Arms Wide Open
by denebtenoh
Summary: They have been able to save humanity. For the second time. As everything seems to be back to normal, living on Gran Pulse has become a paradise. But with the arrival of a new family member, that s about to change. What would Lightning do when the worst terror she has ever dreamed of seems to become true? What does a child have to do with that?
1. Chapter 1

ARMS WIDE OPEN

CHAPTER 1

The small house is rattling everywhere from the pounding droplets of the heavy rain, and the light becomes dimmer, the stance almost enveloped in darkness, as if it were already late in the afternoon, instead of being just midday. The overall atmosphere actually feels a bit sleepy, a tiny bit moody, and the house´s temperature drops, losing its previous warmth, as the air is beginning to feel chilly. Although the wood walls seem to be resisting the ambush of the storm, they are undoubtedly beginning to absorb the humidity. You can smell it in the air, as it gets filled with the soothing smell of dampened earth. A smell that almost lulls you to sleep, if you close your eyes enough time.

Serah sighs.

Although this house it´s a happy place, built with hard work, hope and love, it´s definitely not a healthy environment for small children… if she and Snow ever have one.

The young woman sighs again and then shivers, her short skirt and light sweater seem now a very improper choice of dressing, given the current weather, as her long, wavy pink hair flutters behind her, while she carries in her hands two cups of homemade hot chocolate. One for her, just like every night.

Although it had been hard the first weeks they arrived at New Bodhum, and it took them tremendous hard work, she has learned to love every piece of this new home, and especially love the chocolate they can extract from Gran Pulse´s earth, now completely without the aid of the fal´Cie. Somehow, this taste feels more real than anything she had tasted before, back at Cocoon.

So, it has become her every night routine. Before going to bed, every night she has at least one coup, as much as Snow might hate it, being that the reason why she usually drinks it alone, while her goof of a boyfriend takes Cocoon-made coffee instead. The strawberry blonde giggles, realizing such thought would be worthy of her sister´s approval. And sighs again, as the last thought reminds her of the one reason that´s stressing her out this much.

Hot chocolate is a late night routine, but it´s also a soothing-stress routing, she having a cup of hot chocolate to ease her heart whenever she´s feeling particularly anxious about something. Well, being completely honest, most of the times it´s about some_one_. Two people, to be exact.

One, is currently working hard on the new fence the NORA team is building to keep Gran Pulse´s wild life away from their small town.

The other, the one that usually worries her the most, is actually the one that she wishes to know her exact whereabouts at that moment. And as usual, it´s the one who wouldn´t tell. That´s why Lightning is the current culprit for the hot chocolate lying on Serah´s hand.

_Damn Claire! When will you learn not to make me worry? _She smiles a bit at the use of the dirty word, knowing her sister would scold her for that.

_You know, Lightning? Sometimes being your sister is so demanding!_ She screams inside her head, a bit serious and a tad playful, trying to drop her dark mood if even just slightly. But she´s feeling so frustrated at the moment! If at least someone could understand her! Then she scolds herself at the thought, knowing that, this time, there´s exactly one person who understands, and who´s now suffering, just like she is; she remembers now she´s not the only one sick of worry about her sister´s fate.

She glances down at the cups she´s clutching with each hand. This time, there is a second chocolate, destined for the lone figure standing over the windowsill. The boy – no, the _teen, _she reminds herself – stands motionless, his sight lost in the deepest part of the storm, his silver hair sparkling with the faint light of the small candles scattered over the counter and close to the makeshift door, and in the rest of the living room.

The place is so small they only need three candles to illuminate the living room, but it hasn´t mattered how small it might be. It´s their home, where they all have lived the last couple of weeks after the fall of Cocoon, and after finally solving the thousands of time paradox created, the place where they had lived after saving none other than the Goddess Etro herself.

Together, always together.

And now this is their home, where they all live now, not only Snow, her fiancé, and her friends, the NORA group, but also Hope, still in his teenage years, just like the first time she had met him, small and slim and cute, the Hope that has lost just recently part of his innocence, and who now is standing at the window, sulking; he´s lived with them too, whenever his father is out of town, helping out in Crystallized Cocoon… and where her sister, Claire, lives too, just like Serah once dreamed.

As if he could hear her thoughts, the young teen sighs, and she smiles a bit, knowing were his thoughts are lost into. Or with whom.

"She should´ve arrived by now". He speaks apparently to no one, but knows that she´s around to hear him. And to agree. Without turning around, he keeps talking as she puts the cup on his hand. "It´s been five days now. Five days ago she should´ve arrived."

She smiles, thankful for his understanding and his care. Having him all worried at least gives her the task to calm him, to comfort him, instead of eating her nails out of anguish for her lost sister.

She looks up towards the celling, noticing the storm fading; the silence reaches her first, and then she hears the sound of scattered and faint chirps from the small birds that inhabit New Boduhm along with them. A cheerful indicator that it has already stopped raining. She smiles a bit more, thankful for the respite, and turns to address the young teen, while searching for the words that would appease him too.

"I know, Hope, but you heard Captain Amodar. The storm reached them first, so they couldn´t get sooner. But he assured us they were fine, just delayed."

"But what if something _did _happen?" this time he turns around and meets her eyes. "What if they were ok but then suddenly were attacked? Or if they lost the path and are wandering around? Or their plane crashed in this storm?! Or…?" she hushes him with a finger over his lips.

"You shouldn´t get me worried, you know?"

He sighs again, looking at the young woman apologetically, and takes her by the hand.

"I know, Serah. I´m sorry, sometimes I forget she´s your sister. But I… I… have a bad feeling about this."

She giggles at his response, an attempt to hide her own uneasiness.

"Of course you do, silly! You always do whenever is about my sister!"

He smiles a bit at her response, and still has the decency to blush.

"Besides, you should keep in mind it is _my_ duty to worry and be scared about all the monsters and things that could happen to her, and _your_ duty to clap my hand and tell me everything´s going to be alright. So please stop being all worried and smile for me." She scolds him a bit more, which only makes him blush even further.

"Yeah, sorry, but if she only…"

He doesn´t finish the sentence, since Fang, the always loud Gran Pulse native, bursts inside, almost breaking the door, panting, obviously in a struggle to catch her breath.

Serah is startled by her sudden entrance, but even more so by the ragged appearance of the warrior, who appears completely sodden, her dark hair glued to her face and skin, her feet covered in mud, but more importantly, her eyes looking haunted.

"Serah! Hurry!" The warrior is finally able to articulate through gasps. "The plane has arrived!"

"What? In this storm? How could they!?"

Without another word, not even to address the teen close to the strawberry blonde, the tall woman takes Serah by the hand, and almost drags her out of the house.

"Don´t know, but by the look of it, it´s not good news."

The last sentence makes the silver haired teen go pale, and he feels glued to the windowsill for a moment, but then he recovers and rushes past the door, chocolate forgotten, as he breaks into a sprint, intent on following the pair.

Already running, the words also startles Serah, while she struggles to run along the sludge, her small boots trapped in the unsteady mud, making every step a tremendous effort, as the Pulsian pulls her hard, and the girl tries to keep her balance and her state of mind too, both at the same time.

"What? What do you mean, Fang?"

Fang remains silent for a bit, unable to find words that wouldn´t make matters worse, while Serah fights to keep her step. But her anxiety picks it´s highest point the moment the girl finally meets the emerald eyes of the tall woman, and recognizes fear in them. That can only mean one thing.

"It´s… it´s about Lightning… right?" Serah fights the lump on her throat. She hates to ask, but she´s more terrified at the silence.

Fang blinks, as if fighting back an emotion, as she slowly brings her stride to a halt; suddenly the mask of ice and calm comes back to the tall Pulsian, a sight Serah is able to witness… so like her sister had always done in front of the young strawberry blonde, always in an attempt to protect her. That simple action drives her closer to tears.

_Is it really that bad?_

Fang gulps, and is finally able to articulate, looking straight at Serah´s eyes.

"Yeah, it´s about Lightning. It seems she´s one of the survivors of her patrol. And I´ve heard she´s injured… badly."

"What do you mean? Fang! What…?"

"Don´t ask me anything else!" the woman yells, her control almost lost. She has to inhale deeply, forcing herself to remember who she is talking to. "Really, Serah… I don´t know anything else… so please don´t ask."

Serah bits her lip, as tears threaten to fall. She knows she shouldn´t push Fang either. Ever since all of them returned from crystalized state, the tall woman has gotten so close to Lightning, this dire situation must be very difficult for her too. So the young woman bits her lip harder, as she starts another sprint, pushing her legs to run as fast as they can, leaving Fang behind.

The Pulse born notices the attempt, and sighs, following the young woman, this time her stride doesn´t falter for even a bit, emerald eyes focused firmly at their path.

"I´m sorry, Serah… I didn´t mean to." She catches up with her, but doesn´t feel strong enough to face the young strawberry blonde again.

The addressed girl smiles thankfully. "Don´t worry, Fang. We shouldn´t distract ourselves from this. If my sister needs us, we have to be there soon enough."

The warrior smiles. "Yes of course. Especially if we don´t want to have our assess kicked by her infamous booth."

They look at each other and laugh at the joke, as the celling of the makeshift hangar appears in their line of vision. As she sees them, Serah redoubles her effort, making the Pulsian warrior to admire her for the speed.

_Well, after all, she _is _Lightning´s sister_

And, as if it wasn´t fast enough, the young woman strains her legs to go even faster, the moment a tall and broad figure appears in front of the entrance of one of the barracks.

"Captain Amodar!"

The addressed man raises his head at hearing his name, and as he sees the small frame approaching faster, a brilliant smile graces his rough and tanned features.

"Well I´ll be! It´s the little Farron!" He waves at her in salute, but the young pinkette flings herself into his enormous belly, searching for the comfort of the huge man. "Hello there Serah! Nice to see you too!"

The tall man rises his brown eyes to meet emerald ones, as Fang catches up with them, stopping a few steps away from the pair, not wanting to interfere, but eager to know about her friend. Without words, he understands their rush, and as broad hands rest on much smaller and trembling shoulders, he makes a movement with his head, prompting the raven haired woman to keep going, and his eyes come back to the shaking figure clutching his robes.

Fang only nods faintly, and without words, sprints towards the hangar, thankful for having someone who would give the young woman the reassurance she can´t give her, and making a silent prayer for her own younger sister to arrive sooner.

Serah meets Captain Amodar´s dark eyes with watery azure orbs, a gesture that makes the old soldier marvel at how much they look like his protégée´s, but then he notices the countenance of anguish and fear in the younger girl, and puts his thoughts aside, focusing on the small woman clinging at his battered and dirty robes.

The young strawberry blonde looks intently at him, and her eyes water a bit more, this time out of guilt too. Serah knows she should just run and see for herself her sister´s condition, must probably Lightning is waiting for her at this very moment. But her heart is aching terribly with fear at the thousands of ghastly possibilities. She fears she wouldn´t stand it. So she clings harder to the man who, ever since she met him in Bodhum, has looked after both of them, Lightning and her, as if they were his children.

The man is startled by her actions at first, but immediately understands her probable state of mind, and gives her a reassuring smile, trying to comfort her, as a broad finger dries a single tear in her cheek.

"Now c´mon, little one. I know you´re worried about your sister, but you shouldn´t. Farron is a lot tougher than that, and you know it far better than I do."

"I-I know, I know Captain," Serah stutters as she pushes away from the man, only enough to be able to see his face properly, as her hands still clutch the fabric of his uniform, "but… is… is she… ok?" She´s too afraid to ask the full question, so she lets it hanging in the air, hoping the man would understand.

The captain´s face darkens a tad, but immediately smiles for her. "Nothing a good cup of hot chocolate and the care of her lovely sister can´t cure. Now show me the smile you´ll give her the moment you see her."

Serah lowers her eyes, still overwhelmed, and speaks out her fears, her voice barely a whisper "I know but… but I don´t know what I would do if I lose her again, Amodar… I just got her back…" the last words are almost lost in the wind, unheard if the man hadn´t been intent at hearing them. More tears fall from the closed eyelids, and Serah feels herself about to break, but the man cups her chin and makes her meet his eyes once more.

"C´mon, Serah. You, too, are far stronger than this. You´re a Farron who´s already proven her worth, and, between just you and me, I usually think that you´re a lot stronger than your sister, honestly." He winks at her after his last words, and his smile gets bigger.

Through tear stained face, this time she smiles at him, a sincere one at his words, and he chuckles. "That´s right, little Farron! That´s the thing she will need for now."

Reassured just slightly by his words and his cheer, and feeling just a bit stronger now, she gives a step back, letting go of the tight grip she has on him. "But at least tell me something. Is she… is she out of… of danger?"

"Yeah, her life isn´t compromised. Don´t worry." He takes her once more by the shoulders and makes her turn around, pushing her gently towards the entrance of the hangar. "Now, go. I think your sister´s asleep now, but I´m sure she´s waiting for you, and will wake up the moment you arrive. So don´t make her wait any longer."

She turns a bit to thank him, and sprints towards the hangar, not noticing Hope approaching fast.

But the old Captain does, and as the teen is about to pass him, only inclining his head in greeting, he clutches the teen´s robes from behind, stopping him in his rush and making him stagger.

"He-hey! What are you doing?! I wanna go!" The teen protests, but the seriousness in the man´s eyes prevent him from saying any more words.

"Listen to me carefully, young lad." Amodar releases him, but his other hand rests on Hope´s shoulder, as he brings his face closer to the teen´s. "The two Farron´s are going to live some moments of stress and fear." He locks eyes with the teen, prompting him to pay attention. "I know Lightning won´t accept it, but they will need a man to stand by them. To take care of them." Hope´s eyes widen in surprise. "Are you up to the challenge young man?"

"W-well yeah!" it takes it only a moment for him to recover. "Yeah! Of course I´ll be! You don´t need to ask." Then he doubts a second, before asking. "But… what about you? They think of you as their father, or at least I know Serah does."

Amodar releases him at that last statement and laughs out loud, surprised and amused by his words.

"Thank you lad, I really don´t know how they see me, but I certainly do see them like that." He turns serious once more. "But they´re not, after all. On the other hand, _you_ _are _part of their family, so they´ll need you. Now, I know they have other men in their family, and I know Serah won´t be alone. But I´ve seen the way Farron looks at you, she really trusts you. So I´m asking again. Are you up to the challenge?"

The young teen puffs his chest in pride. "I am."

The man chuckles as he ruffles his hair, a gesture that still annoys the teen. "Well done, young man. I really hope you keep your promise."

"I will!" Hope gives a few steps away from the officer, until he notices the man is not following him. "Er… aren´t you going to see Lightning too?"

Amodar smiles apologetically at the teen. "No, lad. I have some errands to do first, some families I have to visit, to give them less happy news."

Hope´s eyes sadden, understanding the meaning of his words, and with a nod, he walks away, waving goodbye to the man and wishing him good luck, as he starts a sprint, searching for his mentor, the officer´s words still clinging at his chest.

Serah finds Fang already inside the hangar, in a small building constructed with rocks and wood from the Yaschaas Massif, a makeshift barrack that allow the soldiers to rest after their duties, and allow them to feel comfortable during the warm weather of Gran Pulse. Just close to the main door, the soldiers conditioned a smaller construction that would serve as an infirmary, bringing some beds, tools and equipment they could recover from the broken and crystalized Cocoon, selecting the equipment they would most probably need for their missions, and that wouldn´t need power from the fal´Cie to function. It has been a hard task, but fortunately there were rudimentary machines they could still use.

The Pulse woman is standing outside the closed door, her eyes shut and her arms crossed, in an imminent gesture of anger repressed just slightly, and surely looking ready to explode.

"Fang! Did you see her? Is Lightning ok?"

"I couldn´t get inside. They wouldn´t let me in." The woman grunts, obviously angered by the delay. "It seems the doctor is still checking on her."

As if on cue, a tall, raven haired soldier steps outside the door, closing it with care behind him, as if not wanting to make any sound. The man wears a worn out uniform, covered with a white coat that now seems more of some other color than white, most probably for overuse. Serah Immediately recognizes him as Falcon, the medic from the Blitz Squad, the group that claimed to be absolutely loyal to Lightning, even when everything seemed lost. As he gives a step back from the door, both women surround him, startling him.

"Ugh! Fang! Serah! Don´t do that again!" the man protests, as he faces his friends. Serah notices he looks worn out, completely exhausted, with dark circles over his eyes and a faint stubble over his chin, his dark hair seems to know far better days.

The smaller woman smiles apologetically, while the tall one just grunts a response.

"Well? Are we able to see her now?"

He raises his hands in a conciliating gesture. "Lieutenant Farron is sleeping at the moment. She´s got a fractured leg, some fractured ribs too and an injury in her head. But everything is controlled and attended now, she´s completely out of danger" the man adds, as he hears Serah gasping, "nonetheless she´s very exhausted, so she should rest. I gave her a sedating tea to keep her as painfree as possible."

"Ah tea?!" Fang explodes before Serah can say anything. "What makes you think a freakin' tea can do anything against a broken bone?" She yells at the man, completely aggravated.

"SShhh! Keep it down Fang! You´ll wake the Lieutenant up!" Falcon hushes her, flustered by the Pulsian´s actions, and turns his head towards the closed door, as if wanting to check on the woman, but instead he sighs and rubs his neck with a hand, trying to keep his temper and obviously thinking of a way to keep the tall warrior at bay. "Look. I understand you´re both very worried about Lieutenant Farron, but I think there´s something you two should see first. She just gave me her permission to show you."

"What do you mean?" Serah asks, glad he just said it´s just some broken bones, but feeling her anguish coming back to her the moment she hears his last words.

"Why would we need her permission to know?" Fang still yells, but this time is Serah the one to answer, her peaking emotions finding a way out.

"Do you _really_ need an answer to that? It´s Lightning we´re talking about."

Fang grunts, struggling to keep her frustration under control, as she passes a hand through her rustled hair. "I know. I know..."

Falcon smiles thankfully at Serah, awed at the idea of someone standing tall against the fearsome woman. "Then follow me, please. It´s better if I show you instead of just telling you."

They walk around the corner and enter a small room, immediately connected to the infirmary, but separated by it with a huge window. Through them, both women are able to see a lean frame resting on the farthest bed from the window, part of her head enveloped in a broad gauze, and pink locks scattered over the clean pillow.

"Lightning!" Serah screams, giving a step forward as if to reach out for her sister, but refrains, as she sees her chest rise and fall slowly and deep, her eyes shut and her countenance that of peace, small indicators of deep slumber.

"Don´t worry Serah." The doctor reassures her. "She´s ok, just asleep. The tea has made its effect."

Fang stands without moving, her eyes still focused on her friend´s resting figure, but still addresses the man. "You haven´t explained why you can´t give her something stronger for her to function better, instead of letting her be bed-ridden."

She then notices the man pushing a big piece of equipment, full of cables, buttons and a small screen. She helps him, and after moving the heavy artifact together, he´s finally able to turn it on, and gets into explaining mode.

"This is a rudimentary ultrasound machine. Through sound, the computer inside can create images of the parts inside of the body."

"Oh! I´ve seen one before! My mom used to get some studies like that when she was very sick, back in… Bodhum…" Serah starts excited at recognizing the machine, but as the memory strikes, her voice drops until it becomes almost a whisper. Fang stands beside her and places a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. She doesn´t know how to comfort the young woman, but it seems to be enough, since Serah looks up at her with a smile.

"Yeah, exactly those." Falcon continues, pleased to know the young woman has someone else to rely on, besides her sister and Snow. "So we´ve performed some of these studies to Lieutenant Farron." He explains as the machine turns on completely, the screen coming into life, and they see unintelligible images displayed on it, some dark and bright shadows moving all around. At watching their faces of disbelief, the man explains further, using his finger to point at the images as he speaks. "This is your sister´s abdomen. Her insides are ok, we didn´t find anything that would tell us there was something wrong which would make us take her into urgent surgery. But then we found this…" he points at a small, round, black ball that rests in the middle of the screen and has what seems to be a small bean inside.

The two women still look at the screen completely lost, without being able to discern one shadow from the other, and Serah tilts her head, trying to comprehend, but to no avail.

"I know it´s not easy to understand," Falcon continues, "but I´m sure the next part of the recording will totally clarify."

As if on cue, the room is filled with a deafening, drumming sound, a steady rhythm that resonates through the walls and makes both women´s skin shiver.

After hearing the rhythmic, loud beat, Serah understands right away the meaning of the images, and brings her hands to her mouth, fighting to control her overwhelming emotions, as her eyes begin to moist.

But Fang is still clueless, and tilts her head like the strawberry blond did previously, struggling to understand. Immediately after, the small bean inside the black ball jumps, startling the tall warrior, and making Serah giggle among tears.

After two seconds, Fang´s mind finally processes the images, and as her eyes widen in surprise, her face goes pale, and then she looks to the side, her eyes immediately falling to the figure lying motionless on the distant bed. As if sensing the woman´s stare, azure eyes open up slowly, and both set of eyes meet each other in a silent interchange.

But the dark woman is confused.

Should she jump in joy? Should she apologize? Is it good? Is it a bad thing? Should they _do_ something?

A small smile drawn in the distance reassures the tall woman, and a second after a scream next to the warrior startles her, taking her out of her surprise, as Serah finally recovers her voice.

"OHDEARGODDESSI´MGONNABEANAUNTIE!"

Author´s Note: Hope you like it! I know there isn´t much action, but I kinda liked this part! Hope you don´t mind some angst! Love you all!

On a side note, I don´t own Final Fantasy XIII nor any of its awesome characters. Square Enix does.


	2. Chapter 2

ARMS WIDE OPEN

CHAPTER 2

Lightning knows she´s asleep, in between her dream she´s perfectly aware it´s exactly that, a dream… but the drenching smell of burned flesh is far too real, far too perceptible, and so intense it nauseates her, almost making her vomit. The pain, and the dizziness, are also just too real to be a mere dream. Her ears are ringing, and she feels disoriented, her body aching everywhere. Though her eyes are open, the scene is blurred, enveloped in a faint darkness that sometimes is replaced by what she thinks would be daylight. The earth around her feels like moving, or is she the one moving? There are shadows, and lights, and figures moving fast, and in between her confusion, she realizes that sometimes she´s able to see the ground, while the next moment she´s facing the sky. She can´t make out anything correctly, the only recognizable feature is a dim light in front of her and someone´s faraway yells of help… and then, as if her mind would´ve been expecting it, but without really being prepared, the blackness consumes her whole.

After what seems a moment, through her closed eyelids she notices a faraway light that, in an instant, occupies her whole field of vision, and the sensations change. That´s the moment she realizes the previous events hadn´t been a dream, but something that had been happening to her, a memory, and now, as she tries to open her eyes, the blurry scene in front of her is filled with a white, warm light that envelops her whole, hurting her sight, and she shuts her eyes again.

Slowly, Lightning becomes aware of the rest of her body, and hears whispers beside her, male voices she cannot place. She tries to move, to ask for help, but her body doesn't respond to her orders, it feels as if her limbs don´t belong to her anymore, and instead, as in payback for her unwanted commands, her whole body yells back at her in the form of a shockwave, as she´s enveloped in sheer, insurmountable pain, which seems to be born from her womb and expand towards each part of her flesh. The pain is so intense it seems to illuminate her closed eyelids with a yellow hue, and travels with an electrifying hunger, consuming her body whole.

She tries to scream for help, as it seems as if an eternity of torture has passed by, but the moment she feels she can´t sustain it anymore, the pain soothes away by itself, the only remnant a pulsing soreness on her head, torso and right leg.

She keeps her muscles tensed, ready in case the pain would comeback. When a moment passes by and it doesn´t reappear, she lets go the breath she was holding, and is about to relax, but then the pain returns with a vengeance, as if mocking her, born from her lower abdomen and burning through her lower back, only to spread once again towards the rest of her body, consuming her blood like fire destroying a forest.

She wants to move away from it, but her muscles wouldn´t respond her, even her voice is shut. Feeling completely helpless and vulnerable, desperation tears her mind, consumes her, swallows her being. Lightning isn´t aware anymore which one is worst, the pain on her body or the fear on her soul. The intensity of her agony is such, she wants to throw up, to double over herself, to scream for help, anything that would keep the pain away. But once again, as fast as it comes, right before she´s about to give up and plead, humiliating herself, the aching leaves her involved in a faint soreness, and she feels exhausted, consumed, scared like never before.

Lightning exhales, feeling her whole body trembling out of fatigue, but feeling also her strength and senses coming back to her. It´s as if the pain takes over her mind, and when it recedes, she´s allowed to reign over her body once more.

She tries to open her eyes, as at that moment she notices a warm hand placed gently over her forearm, but the light is still too intense to bare, so she shuts them tightly, and turns her head to the side. The attempt makes a moan escape from her lips.

"It´s ok, Lieutenant" a male voice speaks to her soothingly, and in between her fear and confusion, she´s happy she can hear correctly again. "I´m here to help you. You´ll be alright now."

But the words are not enough to soothe her fear, so Lightning tries to reply, but only a moan escapes from her once more, the vulnerability behind the sound frustrating her. What´s the matter with her? When had she become this weakened being?

She makes a second attempt to move her arm again, and regrets it immediately, as the pain comes back to torture her. This time her body obeys and she does bend over, clutching her stomach tightly, trying to suppress the source of her suffering, to rip it off her flesh. In between the gasps and grunting, she´s nonetheless happy her body is hers once more.

"Wait, Farron! Don´t move!" A deep voice startles her, and she turns her head, opens her eyes ignoring the aching. She blinks as her sight adjust to the intense light, and a caring face comes into her line of vision. Captain Amodar smiles worryingly at her, and she notices he´s bent over her, his hands tightly enveloping her forearms, struggling to restrain her movements. "Just wait a little longer, Farron, don´t move, he´s just about to finish."

The pain fades and she´s able to think more coherently, finally noticing a gentle pressure on her belly.

"W-wha…? Where…?" her voice, already husky, sounds like a whisper, and she feels her throat burn for the effort, but being able to talk somehow releases a pressure off of her shoulders, the sensation of entrapment, and the sense of despair fading away if only a tad.

"It´s ok, Farron, you´re home." Amodar answers, releasing her for a moment so that he can take a stray strawberry lock off of her face. "Just don´t move and let the technician do his job."

"What´s… what´s happening to me, Sir?"

She asks him almost in a plea, and hates herself for the fear that can be heard underneath her voice. But Amodar understands, and smiles at her once more.

"That´s what we´re trying to find out, child. Now please be a good soldier and behave. Don´t move."

She´s still weary but complies, and sighs as she tries to relax, but before a second passes by, Lightning tenses again, as her memory catches up to her mind.

"Captain! The others! We have many wounded, Sir…!" she struggles once more to free herself, to go and pay aid to her men, but Amodar reacts before she can move any further and tightens his grip on her.

"Please, Farron. Just hold still."

She notices the distressed tone, and stops struggling, looking intently at him. At that moment Lightning notices his slump shoulders, the bags under his eyes, his lips down and his burrow in a frown. She knows that look all too well: Amodar suffers whenever his men are in distress. That can only mean one thing.

"Please Sir, tell me…" Lightning sighs, trying to collect her wits, "what happened to the others? Where are Ray and Sarge?"

He gives her a faint smile, thankful she started her questioning with those specific soldiers.

"Don´t worry about those two, Farron. They´re sick worried about you, and got some scratches on them, but they´re otherwise fine."

"What about Torreno?" she pushes on. "He tried to protect me, Sir, I know he did…"

"He got hit quite badly," it´s Falcon the one to respond, without taking his gaze from a screen. "But he´s out of danger now, and he´s resting on the other barracks. Mind you, making some fuss for not letting him in to check on you." He winks at her as she meets his eyes.

"Falcon!" She screams in delight at seeing her favorite doctor. "You´re here! I´m so glad you´re alright!"

His smile grows wide while a faint flush reaches his face, and chuckles a bit as his hand goes immediately to his neck, obviously embarrassed at the sudden display of care and interest from his usually cold superior.

"Well, hehehe, thank you Lieutenant. I´m glad you´re feeling better too."

As he speaks, ironically, Lightning tenses, the pain coming back to burn her body, to torture her once more. But she´s prepared now, willing to obey her superior, and besides, she knows that every single movement or gesture would bring distress and worry to her fellow comrades, especially to her captain. So she closes her eyes and clenches her teeth, stretching her neck as much as she can, as she grips the bed sheets with a knuckle-white grip. She holds her breath as her throat vibrates, and not even a sound escapes her lips: she can´t allow them to hear how badly it hurts.

But the men know her all too well to be deceived.

"Falcon?" Amodar asks, filled with concern, as he sees Lightning´s face becoming paler, a stray sweatdrop falling from her forehead.

"Please be patient, Sir. We just need more time." The medic turns to the screen and, despite the words he has spoken, he clenches the technician´s shoulder, a gesture that clearly indicates he should hurry. The technician doesn´t give any sign of acknowledgment, but after a second he gives a faint nod of the head.

Amodar approaches closer to Lightning´s ear, feels her muscles tight, holding back the pain. He knows her holding back is for him and for Falcon, to prevent them from feeling worried.

"Please, Farron," he whispers on her ear, hoping it would somehow sooth her, "resist a little longer."

After a minute, the pain recedes and she settles, though pale and drenched in cold sweat, but with her mind sharper than before. She turns back to address Amodar once more, as his eyes fall astray from hers, refusing to meet azure, questioning orbs.

"And what about the others, Sir?"

Amodar sighs. "Please Farron, let´s concentrate in you at this moment. I promise I´ll tell you everything you want to know. Later. You come first right now."

Lightning sighs in acceptance and turns around in defeat, knowing that pushing it any further would lead to nothing but her superior getting mad at her. She turns her head to the other end, trying to acknowledge her surroundings.

She notices she´s on a small, rather uncomfortable bed, and notices the white walls that surround them. Then she finds the source of the bright light, a lamp right above her bed that´s blinding on its intensity. As she sees it, she sees too a bag of transparent liquid hanging close to her bedside, its line connected on her left arm. She realizes then, that she´s being taken care of in the small infirmary they had conditioned close to the hangar, in New Bodhum.

_So I _am_ home._

There´s a small window on the wall closest to her, which allows her to see it´s still daytime, and as she turns her head around, she feels bad for the fact that there´s not much furniture to speak of, but a few beds similar to hers, though in worse conditions, something she would really like to change. She then sees a big window in the other end of the room, far away from her, which connects to another, smaller room.

At the last inspection, she finally notices a third man with black hair and military uniform, a man she has never met before (a technician, Amodar had said), sitting beside her bed and in front of a machine almost as tall as him, but definitely shorter than Amodar. She then proceeds to inspect the strange machine, its most outstanding feature being a large screen at the top of it, and from the middle part and through a long cable, the machine seems to be connected to some weird device the size of a palm, which the technician is using to massage her upper abdomen. Somehow, this device feels warm, and the massaging feels soothing too.

She sighs and continues her inspection. Falcon is standing besides the technician, with a deep frown on his face; Lightning notices how the medic is leaning close to the man, both watching the screen quite intently.

Lightning opens her mouth to speak to him, but only a grunt escapes her lips and she tenses her body, as the pain attacks her once more, although this time impossibly stronger than the last ones. She can´t hold much, not like she did before, so she struggles to roll over her side, but this time Amodar contains the soldier, although with some difficulty.

"Farron… please… you promised…" He grunts, his muscles tensing against her attempts to gain freedom.

But she doesn´t acknowledge his words. Her concentration broken, her mind is invaded by suffering, ridden of all coherent thoughts, and Lightning pushes against her restrains, fighting for her right to clutch at her abdomen, to roll on her side, to try anything to escape from the torture.

"Please do hurry" she hears the huge man say, as he fights to contain her movements, "she might look thin, but she´s quite strong."

"I know, Captain," the man speaks, "I´m almost done." He then turns to acknowledge the medic standing behind him and points a finger at the screen. "Her upper abdomen is ok, I haven´t seen anything out of the ordinary, especially not free fluid."

"Good." Falcon says, though he doesn´t feel the reassurance he would like to feel. "But the pain is just too much to be out of nothing. Please, take a look at her pelvis."

"Yes sir." The man turns his attention at Lightning, as she and her captain fight over reign on her position. Aided by Falcon, both men are capable of keeping her in a somewhat supine position, long enough for the technician to perform the study without any risk to his integrity, since Lightning´s feet are tossing and turning as much as they can, looking for release.

The struggle lasts another eternity, but finally the pain fades again, and, though shaking, Lightning´s body starts to relax, her mind slowly recovering her edge, when a new sound envelops the air.

A thumping, drumming, rhythmic sound that freezes everybody over.

_Dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum._

She opens her eyes and sees the men´s faces of disbelief and surprise, Amodar´s body looking as if frozen over, his eyes open wide in surprise, his mouth agape, as his grip on her relaxes a tad.

"What is… that sound?" she finds her strength to ask, exhausted but worried about their countenances.

Falcon feels the responsibility to explain and turns to address his superior, but finds himself speechless, eyes wide open and mouth completely dry. He gulps and stares into azure orbs, the question and anguish behind them take him out of his stupor, and after a second he´s finally able to articulate, though stuttering.

"Lieutenant… that´s… that´s a…"

"A baby..." she hears a voice like a whisper and turns her head towards its owner: It´s Amodar the one to answer her question, as his eyes stare at the screen and then fix on his protégé. "It´s a baby, Lightning." His voice recovers it´s strength, as a small smile draws itself on his tanned features. "You´re pregnant, Lieutenant."

Completely speechless, Lightning opens her eyes wide in surprise, and in disbelief and fear, she turns to watch the screen, as the sound still fills the air. She feels her chest tight and her throat close, as she sees a small, white, bean-like figure swimming in a pool of black. As if the little thing had felt her stare, it starts jumping up and down, turning around nonstop, and her eyes prickle at the action, her mind overwhelmed with words that repeat themselves over and over again.

_A baby. A baby! It´s a baby…!_

_MY baby._

Unstoppable tears finally roll down her cheeks, while a small smile draws itself on her lips.

_HIS baby too…_

She´s about to speak when a sudden jolt of pain takes her by surprise and makes her clutch the fabrics, and she finally screams, arching her body.

The medic jumps at the liquids hanging close to her, connected to her, and he injects a substance down her bloodstream, while Lightning tenses her body and bits her lip with all her might, in order to prevent herself from screaming even more, unintentionally drawing blood from them.

"Falcon!" Amodar yells, desperate, his hands once again on a tight grip on hers. "Do something!"

"I´m on it, Sir!" The medic yells back, as another syringe is injected on the liquids that are connected to her lifestream.

Sweating profusely, she clutches the fabric tighter, and tosses and turns, writhing, struggling to get rid of the pain, as another scream escapes her mouth.

"Falcon! That´s not enough!"

"I can´t give her anything else, Sir! It´ll hurt the baby!"

"I don´t care!" she hears Amodar yell, "Save her!"

_No! _Through the pain, Lightning yells inside her head. _Don´t harm him!_

Taking advantage of a moment Amodar let her got to reach out for the medic, Lightning grasps tightly her captain´s arm, and pulls hard, forcing him to look directly at her, azure orbs ablaze with determination and ignited with a plea.

"Captain… don´t… I´m okay…" she says between clenched teeth, "the baby…"

"Oh, Farron…" Amodar´s chest feels tight. He would do anything to save her, even give his own life. But this… how could he ever decide between any of them…? The beautiful blue eyes dig holes into his soul, as he understand how it would destroy her if he were to issue an order that would compromise the little being growing inside of her. But… even if it meant her life?

Noticing his hesitation, she´s about to say something else, but as the pain fades, so does her consciousness, and her sight is enveloped in black once more.

Oooooooooo

A/N: Lightning´s men are not OC, or at least not their names. I took them from Blitz Squad, the Squad that faces Twilight Odin in one of the side quests in FFXIII-2. These men claimed they´ve always been faithful to Lightning, taking the Squad´s name and their password (thunder) in behalf of their former Sergeant. I kinda liked that, that´s the reason why I gave them a Cameo in this fic.

Hope you liked it!

As usual, the characters don´t belong to me, but to Square Enix.

For those who left unsigned reviews, here are the answers:

Nas: I´m glad you´re liking it, as for the father, I can´t really give you any clues, but be my guest and take a guess!

Blobby: I´m sorry for the spaces, it´s a flaw after the publication I haven´t been able to correct. I´m using a Mac, so there are still some functions I just don´t know how to use, but thanks for pointing that out.

I do usually enjoy a bit of romanticism when I read… but I´m definitely out of writing it at the moment, so yeah, don´t expect much of it on this fic. I´m glad you like that.

Ooohhh… I LOVE especulation! I can´t give you even a clue, but your opinion was very interesting! A monster! THAT was very original! But no, sorry, at least I can tell you that much. The father of Lightning´s baby IS a man. Which man, well… for that, you´ll just have to wait.

Thank you all for your awesome comments! I hope you like this chapter and the next to come!


	3. Chapter 3

ARMS WIDE OPEN

CHAPTER 3

…..Oooooooooo…..

The darkness is overwhelming, oppressing her chest with such intensity, she feels she cannot breath. Lightning can´t feel her body either, nor any other sensation, and the ghastly idea that she might be dying, or that she might actually be dead, runs through her soul. Being lost as she is now, Lightning feels a helplessness she hasn´t felt in many years… one she felt during a time of pain and sorrow she can still recollect, as if the memory were carved in her soul. But though the horrible memory lingers on the back of her mind, instead of sending her straight into the arms of desperation, it somewhat gives her strength, and the will to command over her emotions. Wherever this place might be, Lightning knows she can still rule over herself. She´s _The Lieutenant Lightning Farron_, she reminds herself, the one who once made the impossible possible; and even though she knows those words are just bluff (for her), she knows her responsibility is to find a way out of there, because Serah is waiting for her. The baby sister she just recently saved must be worried sick about her.

_I have to come back to Serah…_

Time is an abstract concept Lightning cannot place correctly, but as she starts to regain control over her fear, something on the back of her mind realizes that the clock might be actually ticking. And she indeed might be dying, or already be dead, but she just _has to _make sure, because she might be alive as well, so she tries to expand her consciousness, to gain control over her body once more.

A moment passes by, or two, or maybe days or weeks… she doesn´t know,but, as if some awakening had come into her senses, she starts perceiving a numb feeling, at first unrecognizable, and then, as if waking up from a slumber, she can feel her body weightless, resting over something warm and soft, and just like that, Lightning realizes she´s, after all, alive.

If she could´ve jumped, she would´ve done it like only she could do. A jump so high she could do summersaults of happiness.

As she slowly recovers consciousness, she also notices that the pain on her head and leg still remain, as well as some restraining to her breathing, but the other, more ghastly pain, has apparently disappeared. She then remembers faintly that Falcon had been there, just before she got enveloped by darkness once more, and gave her something… rather strong to drink. At first she thinks the medic´s presence had been just a dream, a fidget of her imagination, but as her mind remembers the pain she had endured, the recollection strikes her mind full force, and she understands that Falcon´s presence had actually happened too. The memory of the pain hits her with such strength, she flinches at the recollection, and her body tenses, fearing it would come once more to assault her, but as minutes pass by without even a phantom of it, she finally allows herself to relax.

After a moment, she passes mental inspection to every part of her body. Each and every muscle is aching, as if an adamantortoise had just danced over her, and she can feel the tight bandages around her head, as well as the cast on her leg, but apparently nothing more serious than that.

As her inspection finishes, her mind starts the recollection of the last events, and all the information she had just received, making her want to recoil back into the warm and safe arms of dreamland.

The sunlight that enters from the window right above her headboard warms her face, hitting her retinas, but she refuses to open her eyes: her mind isn´t ready to face reality yet, overwhelmed by all the information she received in a span of hours, not even days.

As a soldier, her heart still aches thinking of the comrades in arms she surely has lost, though Amodar refused to tell her exactly who were the ones that perished during the accident. But at least she knows her best friends are fine. Wounded, but pretty much alive. Such piece of knowledge is definitely a relief, no matter how small. But right halfway through such idea, she´s forcefully taken out of her reveries.

Without a warning, an odd sensation graces her insides, interrupting her train of thoughts. It´s almost imperceptible, and she most likely would´ve missed it if she weren´t completely still and in silence. But as it repeats itself, she confirms its existence. It feels as if something soft has just brushed her belly, but from the inside.

At first, she thinks it´s just her bowel protesting for the lack of food, but the sensation is too soft, too localized to be such thing. After a moment and two more events, she finally understands. Hopelessly, her right hand softly rests over her stomach, right where the feeling is prickling her, and she finally notices the small, hard bump over her once flat and perfect lower abdomen. Lightning presses down, and the sensation becomes stronger, and, she thinks, even more frequent.

_A baby…_

Lightning smiles faintly at the thought, though somewhat overwhelmed. Even though it´s a surprising development, and one she certainly hadn´t expected, she can´t deny she´s happier about it than she should be.

But she´s also weary.

And sad.

And scared.

And confused.

And… everything at the same time.

_Oh dear Goddess… what am I going to do with a baby?_

There are too many emotions that fight to rule over her heart, none of them seeming to be winning the battle, and each one of them confusing her to no end. In between such thoughts, she would like to cry so hard, and then to laugh with such abandonment, that sometimes she longs to do both simultaneously, if she at least could try. Thousands of doubts, of questions, overflow her mind, and she can´t choose one over the other, before the next is already screaming for a response…

_What if something goes wrong? _

_What if the baby doesn´t survive?_

_What if my body can´t take it? _

_What will happen with the rest of the ex-l´Cie? Will they support me? Serah surely would, but the rest…? _

_What will happen with the New Bodhum Guardian Corps? I can´t stop working! What if they want me to…?_

She sighs, as she feels overwhelmed with too many emotions at the same time, so many questions she just can´t answer.

_Should I tell HIM? What if I can´t find the way to let him know? What if he doesn´t understand...?_

Lightning inhales, as the final question comes to her, striking her core.

"Oh dear Goddess… what if I´m not a good mom…?"

The sound of her own voice startles her, and she opens her eyes wide, and sees the room enveloped in semidarkness, even though the light entering through her window illuminates her bed, warming her body.

Her cruel, out of control thoughts inevitably make the decision for her, and a sense of hopelessness rules over the rest of the emotions, oppressing her chest and tightening her throat.

But the sense of hopelessness doesn´t arrive alone, as a lone and phantasmal figure forms at the back of her mind, an overwhelming longing sweeping over her already trembling heart. There´s one person, one single being who would totally understand her plight. One person who would give the best of advice over her confusing circumstances, and who would scare her fears away with something as simple as a tight and caring hug. But such person is nowhere to be seen.

"Oh mom…" she pleads, the words coming from somewhere deep inside her core, "if only you were here…" her eyes prickle, as two solitary tears fall from them, the longing suffocating her.

But the feeling also triggers something powerful on her mind, and, as if shooing away a bothersome fly, she shakes her head furiously, refusing to linger over such depressing thoughts.

"Nonsense, Lightning Farron!" she suddenly screams at herself, furiously whipping off the tears with her left hand, and clutching her belly harder, continuing her self reprimand.

_Get a grip of yourself, soldier! You got yourself into this, you´ll have to be a grown woman and take charge! You´re stronger than this, you´ve always been._ As if responding to her struggle, the feeling on her belly returns, and she chuckles through her tears.

"Yes, sorry baby, I meant _you and I_ are stronger than this." She inhales three times, and finally controls her raging heart, but the smile lingers, this time softer.

_It´s you and me now, isn´t it? We will always be together… _

An image of her dead mother passes through her mind, and her brow furrows as a thought passes through as well.

_We´ll be together, as long as I don´t die first, or you…_ She clenches her fists tight as she refuses to finish the thought, fear enveloping her heart. Though this type of fear is different, a type of fear she has never felt before, or at least not as strong. It pushes through her heart, faintly chocking her, and spreads through the rest of her chest. But along with it, as it always have been, a new form of determination takes shape inside her heart, and she inhales deeply.

"Don´t worry baby." She speaks soothingly, softly, though she doesn´t know whom is she trying to ease: the baby or herself. "I will always protect you. No matter what, no matter who, I´ll make sure you´re safe."

Another bump, and she smiles, the combination of that feeling and her recent pledge giving her a sense of peace. She knows now that they will make it through. Both of them. Together.

With such thought in mind, her body relaxes some more, and Lightning finally allows herself to feel completely spent, utterly exhausted, and wishes to sleep some more. She closes her eyes and orders her body to be still, as she inhales and exhales rhythmically, deeply, recalling some relaxation exercises. She knows this moment of peace would be helpful too for her baby.

_My baby…_

She smiles as she allows the thought to envelope her whole, like a prayer, like the sun warming her body, though even more. Two simple words that, for a moment, cast away from her heart any doubt or any fear. The only remaining feeling is that of her heart overwhelmed by tenderness… and by love.

_My baby…_

The exercise is forgotten, since the repetition of those words gain a soothing and lulling effect over her, and she feels how slowly she´s falling into a soft, deep, comforting sleep.

But as she goes further into unconsciousness, the air is suddenly filled with a sound that her mind recognizes immediately: a rhythmic drumming that makes her heart jump, and she opens her eyes slowly, searching for the source of the sound.

Instead, through the window far at the back of the room, her eyes meet emerald ones and Lightning realizes, through their blazing intensity, that Fang already knows the startling news. She smiles at her friend, when a sudden idea hits her core, the moment she remembers how stalwart and stubborn her best friend can be. But loyal and trustworthy like no one else.

Lightning can´t see a real smile, but something in that jade color seem to glint back at her, to speak to her, as those shining, emerald eyes make Lightning understand the most precious thing: no matter what happens, the baby and her are not going to be alone after all. She can always count on Fang.

The knowledge falls into her heart, and as she ponders about it, her chest feeling somewhat tight, a sudden scream startles her, making her jump a bit.

"OHDEARGODDESSI´MGONNABEANAUNTIE!"

It takes her a second to recognize the owner of the voice, before something soft entraps her, crushing her, and she´s being drowned by locks of pink hair, a shade lighter than her own. The smaller body presses against her broken ribs, and Lightning tenses hard, struggling to contain the yell of pain that threatens to leave her lips. Lightning knows that it would hurt Serah if she realizes her demonstrations are making her older sister suffer.

Fortunately for her, there´s always Fang to the rescue, as the young Pulsian leans down to them, and softly but firmly takes the youngest strawberry blonde by her trembling shoulders, pulling her gently off of her sister, while Serah breaks into rivers of tears of happiness and relief.

"There, there, Serah. I´m sure we should be more careful with Lightning now, as much as she hates that."

The soldier glares at the warrior, and gets only a playful smile in return, but nevertheless, her glare lacks that sense of murder she always embedded it with. Lightning is nonetheless thankful for the attention.

"Oh! Right! Sorry sis!" Serah answers in between sniffles. "Did I hurt you?"

Trying to hide her pain, Lightning beams at her sister. "No, Serah, you didn´t."

Serah sits on the bedside, smiling at her sister, apparently gaining control over her tears for a second, but right after a moment, her eyes are watery again.

"I´m… I´m sorry, Sis… I just can´t stop it…"

"Shhh… it´s okay, Serah. I´m okay, see?"

Lightning takes her sister´s face with both hands, drying her tears with her thumbs. But the warm gesture has the opposite effect, since the tenderness of the touch makes the younger blonde shed even more tears, making the soldier´s heart clench.

"Serah, Why are you crying? You can see that I´m back home, alive and out of danger. Please stop, there´s nothing to worry about."

Azure, concerned eyes are fixed in ones very similar to hers, as Serah is finally able to look straight into her sister´s azure orbs. Finding strength in the reflection of her eyes, Serah takes her sister´s hands off of her face and envelops them with her smaller ones, placing a soft kiss on the abused knuckles, as she regains partial control over her voice.

"I… I thought that… Claire, I was afraid… I-I was afraid I would lose you once again..." Her voice breaks at the last statement, but at the same time, voicing outloud her fears, somehow lifts a weight off of her shoulders. "I-I know it´s stupid, Sis. But I… I just got you back…" the last words are said in a whisper, but she´s so close to the wounded soldier, that Lightning doesn´t miss a single word, and each one of them pierces her heart.

The weight that has been lifted off from the younger sister, now seems to fall upon the shoulders of the eldest Farron, as the soldier sighs, trying to retain the tears that threaten to fall once again. In an effort to hide her emotions, Lightning tries to pull herself into a sitting position, but her broken ribs stall her movements, as a small grunt involuntarily escapes her lips.

"Lightning!"

At the sound, both women jump over the injured one, trying to push her down to the bed again, but the soldier grabs Fang´s forearm in a tight grip, a warning on her gesture.

"Don´t. I need to sit. Please help me."

At first the warrior is about to refuse, but the determination in the azure orbs makes the Pulsian change her mind.

"Your wish is my command, Sunshine." Fang winks at her, and complies, as Lightning barely holds the unavoidable need to roll her eyes.

They help her with care, Lightning trying as hard as she can to avoid any audible complain, even when her whole body is screaming protests at her. Fang and Serah help her to get into a more comfortable position, gathering many pillows from the rest of the beds, and forming a comfy mountain at the head of the bed for the eldest Farron to lie back. Once she´s sitting on the bed, her back comfortable over the pillows, Lightning looks at her little sister and opens her arms wide, inviting her into an embrace.

Serah sobs, and immediately accepts the invitation, burying her face on the crock of her sister´s neck, allowing herself the moment of weakness she has been desperately needing. Lightning holds her tight, one hand over the trembling back, and the other caressing the strawberry locks, as she takes the opportunity to shed the tears she couldn´t show in front of her baby sister. She knows Serah has been trying her hardest to be strong for her, for them all, so she allows her this moment of release, and holds her tight, close to her heart, just like they used to when they were younger, when they had only themselves, and even before that, when they where mere children.

Fang silently gives some steps towards the door, knowing they both need their moment together, when her eyes find Lightning´s and the latter mouths a small 'I need to talk to you'.

Fang nods and leaves them by themselves, as Lightning holds her sister harder, ignoring her aching ribs, allowing her own fears to finally surface.

"I… I was afraid to lose you too, Serah. I was afraid I wouldn´t come back ever."

Another sob escapes the younger girl, as she smiles under the tears, thankful for hearing her sister opening up to her. Both siblings remain locked in the embrace for a few minutes, though for them seem like days, until a recent memory makes Serah pull away from her sister´s arms, the sudden movement making Lightning cringe at the abuse of her ribs.

"Oh! Sis! I gotta tell you something! Did you know? Do you know? Has Falcon told you?"

"Serah, what are you talking about?" Lightning knows what her sister means, but, with a smile on her face, she allows her to finish the sentence, wanting to hear the words from Serah and savoir the effect the news have on the younger Farron.

"Oh Sis! You´re gonna have a baby! You´re PREGNANT Lightning!"

The soldier doesn´t understand why, but she winces at the sound of it.

_Guess it´s going to take a while to get used to it._ She sighs inwardly, as she smiles to her baby sister.

"Yeah, so I´ve heard."

"What do you mean _you´ve heard_? Lightning, this is your baby! You should be more excited!" Serah yells at her sister, while Lightning just chuckles, until a sudden thought strikes the youngest sibling´s mind, her face crestfallen. "Claire! You… you _are_ happy, aren´t you? You want to have this child… right?"

The change on Serah´s expression startles the soldier, and even though she doesn´t understand the reason, Lightning cups her baby sister´s chin, forcing her to lock eyes with hers.

"Of course I want the baby! It´s mine, isn´t it? I already love it even before I meet him. What makes you think otherwise?"

Ashamed of such thought, Serah takes her eyes off of her sister´s. "Well… you didn´t look so happy… if the baby were mine, I would be… well, you know…"

"Yeah, all bright and sunshine." Lightning smiles at her, releasing her chin and placing a reassuring hand over her sister´s. "I´m just confused, Serah, and exhausted, that´s all." Lightning leans against the pillows, as Serah realizes she really does look completely spent. "This is so unexpected, my body still hurts, and it´s so hard to digest… I have so many questions…"

Serah smiles at her older sibling, as the iron walls that surround the eldest Farron start to fall apart, and Serah can finally witness how helpless and afraid Lightning really is, under that masquerade of strength and ferocity she wears all the time. Serah has always felt thankful for being able to help her sister in a way no one else could, since it´s a side of her nobody else has ever seen. Or so she thinks.

With the idea of being of help for Lightning, the youngest strawberry blonde feels her happiness coming back to her.

"It´s ok, Claire. I can totally understand, and don´t worry. I´ll take care of you both."

Lightning smiles thankfully at her, and then looks straight at her sister´s eyes, a hidden plea shining beneath them. "Aren´t… aren´t you mad at me?"

The question takes the younger woman by surprise. "Mad at you? Why would I be? You´re making me the happiest sister that can ever be in New Bodhum!"

"Well, for starters, because I got… well, you know… before you did. I know you were excited about that possibility after marrying Snow. As much as I hate the idea."

A fidgeting Lightning is always a sight to withhold, and Serah does giggle at it, only to replace her giggles by a look of mocking reprimand.

"_Pregnant_, Sis, you are _pregnant._ You should get used to the word." Serah chastises her sister, realizing highly amused how the word makes the soldier cringe, but immediately after she envelops her sister in her arms. "And of course I´m not mad at you for that, silly. After all, it´s the natural thing, right? You´re the older sibling, so it´s only natural that you get pregnant first."

"Would you stop saying that word?" Lightning winces again. "It kinda… prickles my ears…"

Serah is about to push it further, but remembers her sister has just told her how confused she feels, so lets it pass by, making a mental note of teasing her about it later on, and of creating the habit in Lightning to call things with their proper names. But nonetheless, Lightning can´t go clean, for sure.

"Okay, Lightning. You said 'for starters', which means there are other things you want to apologize to me for. What other things?"

This time it´s Lightning the one enjoying the moment, as she smirks at her sister, a gesture that Serah is unaccustomed to on her sibling´s face, but that has seen repeatedly on Fang´s.

"Well, for the fact that I won´t tell you the name of the father anytime soon."

"Whaaaaaatt?! But Lightning!" Serah screams, taken completely by surprise.

"Nahaha…" Lightning waves a finger in front of her baby sister in a negative gesture, amusement in her countenance. "You´ll have to respect my times, alright? I´m the one with the hormones at their tops and thus the one who should be pampered and taken care of, or am I not?"

Serah sighs, "but Siiis… you can´t do this to me…"

"And it´s not all, young girl." The smirk grows into a devilish smile. "You´re absolutely forbidden to tell Snow any of this. Not him nor anyone else."

A scream forms down her throat, but the surprise paralyzes her in such way, she´s not able to create any sound, as she feels the chair underneath her seemingly evaporate into thin air.

"Serah!"

….00ooooooooooo….

Fang walks out of the infirmary, her mind overwhelmed by so many thoughts, she feels it would burst any time, as a headache begins to take shape.

"Ugh…"

She leans back into the nearest tree, as she ponders over the news.

_Lightning pregnant… oh Goddess… who would´ve guessed…?_

"Fang!" Hope sees her coming from the infirmary and immediately runs towards her, happy to know he can finally find out about Lightning´s condition.

But Fang keeps on with her slow walk, still lost in her thoughts.

_But if the father is who I think it is… dear Etro! She´s gonna have some trouble on letting him know… _if _she wants him to know at all…_

"Fang!" Hope is now right next to her, but the warrior doesn´t notice him, though, at a close range, he does notice her concerned features, and fear starts to form in his adolescent heart, while Fang keeps on pondering over her own worries, mindless of her surroundings.

_She´s gonna be pissed off about the Guardian Corps, I really don´t think they´ll allow her to be head of Recognizance Squad after this… damn she is gonna be pissed off! Guess I´ll have to find a way to even up all this…_

"FANG!" Hope shakes her by the shoulders, and not only she realizes he´s been calling her out, but also how tall he has gotten, as the top of his head is already past her chin.

"Hey Hope! You don´t have to yell! I can perfectly hear you!"

Hope is going to make a retort, but tosses the idea aside, as he shakes her once more, desperate to know about his mentor´s health.

"Have you seen Lightning? How is she? Is it too bad? Will she live?"

"Whoa! Hey, hey kiddo! Just one question at a time! I can´t think properly if you shake me like that!"

"Oh, sorry…"

She releases her arms from his tight grip and gives a step back, as he sheepishly settles, but his eyes are still prompting her to talk, ablaze with fear and sorrow, but with a hint of determination. Seeing him so confused and worried makes the warrior´s heart clench, and Fang sighs. She knows she´s not the one to give the news, but the teen at least needs to know his mentor is out of danger, if only to preserve his mind´s sanity.

"She´s safe, Hope, just got some bruises and broken bones, nothing a good rest wouldn´t cure."

The teen lets go the air he was holding, and smiles faintly. "I´m glad she´s ok." He lets the news settle on his mind, and then his eyes are ablaze again, this time with hope. "Can I go talk to her now? I promise I won´t be a nuisance! I just want to see her."

Fang is about to give a small lie to prevent him from entering, but at that moment, they both hear a desperate scream coming from the infirmary, making them freeze in fear.

"Serah!"

….ooooOoooooooooo

AUTHOR´S NOTE:

I´m really sorry if Lightning is too OOC, but I´ve always thought her personality is far more complex than what many fanfics get her to be: an angry and stubborn soldier. I´ve seen her kind and gentle nature, and though the Farron sisters don´t get too much screen time on both games, the little they have, Lightning does show a soft spot for Serah, and treats her with tenderness and care. So I wanted to explore that side of her. Don´t worry, she´ll be back to be the stubborn, violent and tempered soldier we all love and care. I just don´t want her to be a single minded character. Lightning is so much more than that. Hope you liked the chapter!

For the one who left an unsigned review, here is my response:

:Temba: thank you so much for your comment! I really like Hope, especially adult Hope (he´s so handsome and galant!). But I can´t tell you who the father is, just not yet, though I might have an answer to you sooner than later. You just wait and we´ll see if you´re correct, ok? Thank you for commenting!


	4. Chapter 4

ARMS WIDE OPEN

CHAPTER 4

* * *

_Dump!_

"Serah!"

Lightning watches as her sister falls from her chair, her bottom hitting the cold, rocky floor of the infirmary with a loud thud, and though the stubborn sibling is currently sitting on said floor, grunting and complaining for her abused rear, but seemingly with nothing more than a sore cheek, the eldest Farron still struggles to raise and make sure there´s, indeed, nothing to worry about.

"Serah! Are you ok?"

Lightning pushes her body upwards, paying no attention to the intense pain in her leg and her ribs that her mind is registering. The soldier blocks away the information and focuses on one single thing: get closer to Serah. Grunting and cursing louder than her sister is, the soldier´s feet touch the ground, and she exhales a final curse while pushing forward the hardest, her body finally out of bed. Lightning´s last improper word makes Serah´s mind register her surroundings, and the moment she witnesses the effort her older sibling is making, the youngest Farron immediately rises from her spot, still caressing the offended area, but ready to stop the older pinkette, and to chastise her if needed.

"Claire stop it! You´re hurting yourself!"

"Serah… are you… ok?" Lightning, now fully out of bed, gives two steps forward, but this time she´s unable to ignore the pain, and the soldier hisses, her frown deepening, and she closes her eyes under the torment.

Serah can see Lightning´s face has become paler than ever, marked by some drops of cold sweat running down her forehead, as a slight tremor shakes her body. The soldier definitely looks like she´s about to pass out, and stumbles the moment her broken leg sustains her whole weight, without having the relief of even a minor painkiller.

The sight of her struggling sister about to collapse makes Serah gasp in horror, witnessing the tremendous pain the effort is causing her, and, her previous anger forgotten (but only for a moment), she rushes towards the eldest Farron, hugging her dearly as she pushes the stubborn soldier back into bed, using a bit of her own weight to counteract Lightning´s attempts.

"Yes, Claire, I´m ok. You just took me by surprise, but that´s all. Please now get back to bed."

The door bursts open as the raven-haired woman finds them in the embrace-fight they are having at the moment.

"Serah! Lightning! Are you hurt? Is everything alright? What happened?"

The soldier is about to respond to Fang´s concerned questioning, but her younger sibling beats her to it, anger born anew, without relenting a single inch the tight hold she has on her sister.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Fang, only Lightning here that has the nerve to forbid me from telling Snow, my _fiancé and soon-to-be-husband,_ about her pregnancy." Serah remarks the part about Snow, protesting for the mistreatment of her boyfriend.

Lightning allows herself to glare at her sister, while the said strawberry pushes her gently to sit on the bed, blatantly ignoring the threat in the azure eyes.

"Her _what?!_"

The high pitched male voice takes the three women by surprise, as the silver haired teenager enters right behind Fang, and they see the scrawny form drawn on the entrance door: Hope had followed Fang after she ran towards the door, hot on her heels, and stepped in right at the moment Serah had angrily answered the Pulsian´s concerned question with her furious retort.

"Oh, oh…" As her azure eyes open wide in horror at the sight of the teen, Serah refuses to look up, feeling the piercing stare from her sister.

And indeed, Lightning looks as if she would gladly kill her own sister, while, at the same time, refuses to address the teenager.

A few steps away from them, Fang is unsure of what to do, watching the scene unfolding in front of her: the two Farrons completely flabbergasted, and a quite horrified teen facing them. The tall Pulsian is torn between the laughter and the shock, especially since the horrified expression of the Farron sisters amuses her to levels that make her feel a pang of guilt, so she chooses to just stand tight and watch.

Hope, on the other hand, is glued to the ground, his emerald eyes fixed on the pale face of the eldest Farron, searching for the evasive azure eyes. The poor teen is struggling with words, his mind trying hard to process the information, as he stands unmoving, speechless, confused and somewhat offended at finding out something so significant in such an awkward way. As his mind tries to unravel, he can only repeat what he has just heard, his eyes pleading to his mentor, desperate for a confirmation.

"Lightning?" Hope gives a step towards the Farron sisters, both of them recoiling at his voice, though for different reasons. "Is it true? Are you… are you… _pregnant_?"

The addressed woman clinches at the last word, but still avoids his eyes, while she leans on her mountain of pillows, helped by a very concerned and very apologetic-looking sister.

Fang looks at Lightning, expecting her answer, while a moment passes by and the soldier sighs, finally deciding to meet Hope´s eyes. She knows it´s not fair to keep the truth from him, no matter the way he found out something she had decided not to reveal. After all, Hope has always been there for her, in the past and in the future. He surely has earned her trust.

"Yes Hope, I´m… going to have a child."

In spite of her plight, Serah still rolls her eyes at Lightning´s refusal to utter the _word._

A moment of silence, and then…

"Why didn´t you tell me?! Don´t you trust me? Why does Fang know of this before I did?" Hope finally snaps at his mentor, wounded on his pride and on his heart, since he had believed he had finally earned Lightning´s trust, especially after Serah and Lightning herself told him how valuable his help had been during both of their fights on the future.

Lightning is about to answer, but then Serah stubbornly steps in front of her, siding with Hope, her hands at the side of her hips.

"Yeah, Lightning, why don´t you want to let everybody else know of this? You _should_ be happy and eager to let the world know! This is such a fantastic turn of events! The fact that it´s going to be a new life blooming here on Gran Pulse will give everybody a sense of hope!"

"Well, she´s got a point, Light." Fang finally intercedes, a smirk playing on her lips.

Lightning sends a killing glare at the woman, but then ignores her Pulsian friend and addresses the youngsters in front of her.

"If you two must know…"

But such voice doesn´t belong to the soldier: before Lightning utters a single word, a high-pitched, female voice kicks in, breaking the tension, and everybody turns to see two people entering the door right behind Hope.

One of them is Falcon, who stands besides a bush of bright orange hair at the level of his chest, a bright hair that belongs to a certain chirpy lady and who walks close to Hope, brandishing a huge smile, green eyes tingling in delight, as she addresses the teen and the youngest Farron.

"The reason why Lightning _really _doesn´t want anyone else to know just yet, is because, according to Falcon, she´s in the 8th week of pregnancy," Vanille turns to meet the man´s eyes in confirmation, who just nods his agreement, and the orange haired woman continues, "he says Lightning just had an abortion threat, so it´s completely understandable that she really doesn´t want anyone else to know, because she´s scared she can lose the baby, right?"

Though Lightning has never liked people who speak her thoughts, she meets the jade eyes with something similar to thankfulness. One thing is to play with the fearful thought. Other, more different and tougher one, is to voice it out loud. She´s indeed thankful for not having to be her the one to speak of such dire possibilities.

Vanille smiles at the soldier, as if sensing her thoughts, and Lightning finally smiles back. She truly has to acknowledge it now: the young pest always has a way to release some of the family´s burden.

At Vanille´s statement, both Hope and Serah´s eyes open wide in surprise and shame, and in unison, they both turn towards Lightning, the youngest Farron having the decency to blush, although faintly, while Hope has a deep red stain all over his face and ears.

"I´m sorry, Light. I didn´t thought you could feel like that." It´s Serah the first one to speak, as she approaches her sister and takes her by the hand, intertwining fingers, while the soldier just smiles and nods, accepting the apology.

But Hope seems reluctant to move, too ashamed to do anything, so Lightning directs a hand towards him, prompting him to approach.

"It´s ok, Hope. I´m sorry I didn´t tell you, but what Vanille says it´s true. Though you should know something: of all the men that I would´ve chosen to know of these news beforehand, you would´ve been my first choice."

"Hey!" Falcon protests, though playfully, and Lightning just rolls her eyes.

"The medic doesn´t count, dude." Fang answers, as she slaps the man´s back while he passes by her, on his trip towards Lightning´s bed.

Lightning smiles a bit at their exchange as she takes Hope´s hand, the teen finally getting the courage to give a few steps towards her. Lightning looks up at the still wounded eyes of her protégé, and gives his hand a soft squeeze of reassurance.

"I had the honor to work with the man you will become, Hope, and I´m absolutely grateful to be able to witness the fantastic young man you are becoming now. I´m so proud of you, so please, excuse me for not telling you first."

Hope blushes and nods at her. "It´s ok, Light. No matter what happens, you know I´ll be there for you both." The last statement is an echo of the words Amodar had taken from him, and somehow, Lightning understands their importance.

At that moment, Falcon reaches her bed too and sits on it, right beside the wounded soldier, a movement that makes Serah and Hope lose the hold they had on each of Lightning´s hands, in order to allow the man for some room to work. Falcon nods his thanks at the youngsters and then focuses all his attention on his patient, though with eyes ablaze with something deeper than just professional concern.

"Please, Lieutenant, allow me." The man asks her permission, speaking so gently that Fang´s ears prickle as a single thought crosses her mind, and she pays closer attention to the scene.

Lightning nods a bit at his request, and fixes her azure eyes on the cerulean ones of the kind doctor. But while her eyes are a mixture of thankfulness and trust, his are shining in concentration and… something else… something the tall Oerban has seen before, ironically in a pair of eyes that Lightning would´ve found rather annoying. Not a second passes by when Fang remembers exactly where she has seen such look: It´s the look Snow gave Serah during the first weeks after they all met up in New Bodhum, after the timeline got fixed, and it´s a look he sometimes still wears whenever his eyes meet his fiancé´s.

Fang´s eyes open wide in surprise as a thought runs through her mind, while watching the tenderness the man takes the pinkette´s hand, as an excuse of searching for her pulse. The Pulsian notices his seemingly soft and gentle touch, as if the tough lieutenant were some doll that would break with the slightest touch. As if she were someone he had sworn to protect.

_Is it possible that…? Could Falcon be… the father?_

The thought strains Fang´s mind, and her eyes find Vanille´s, the young woman´s countenance mirroring her own, until a broad smile finds its way on the youngest Pulsian´s face. But although it might seem pretty obvious for Vanille, for Fang, instead, it´s just an absurdity.

_No way! Not Lightning!_

At a discreet signal from the man, Lightning exposes her creamy belly to the doctor, who tenderly touches and explores the ivory skin, as his blue eyes move intermittently from the tender flesh to the lighter shaded orbs.

"Does it hurt anywhere, Lieutenant?"

"Only over the broken bone. My stomach has stopped torturing me, thanks to you."

He smiles at the compliment, but keeps his exploration without interruption. "Any bleeding?"

"Not that I´m aware of."

He flashes a pleased smile at her and this time she smiles back, though with less intensity, and probably with a different intention than Falcon´s beaming. Or at least that´s what Fang likes to think.

"I need to explore you now." The man stops his work for a moment, awaiting her approval, which comes without a second thought.

"It´s ok, Falcon. Do whatever you need to do."

The young doctor nods thankfully at her, and turns towards the quite eager audience they have, their intent stares making him blush, but only faintly. He is, after all, a professional, therefore, with the authority he´s now accustomed to apply to all of his patients (no matter their rank), he addresses the two women and the young teen.

"I´m sorry, but I´m afraid I´ll have to ask you to leave. _All _of you." He glares at Fang as the woman is about to protest, and gets a frightening glare back, but before anyone can say any further, Vanille takes her and Hope by the arm, pulling them towards the exit.

"I´m sure Lightning needs a bit of space, right? Don´t worry, Falcon, I´m taking these troublemakers outside with me."

"What?" Both Fang and Hope scream at her.

"Who are the troublemakers?"

"Hush, Fang! This is no place for us!"

"But I want to stay!" Hope´s last words linger on the door.

As the young woman practically drags them out of the door, Falcon looks at Serah, as she gives a step backwards, reluctant to leave but even more reluctant to stay.

"Wait, Serah." Falcon stops her from moving, as he steps out of the bed, in order to give Lightning more room to prepare. "I´ll actually need you here with me."

"M-me?"

He eyes the young pinkette with determination. "Yes, of course, Serah. I really can´t explore your sister all by myself. At least not an intimate exploration; it´s the rules, you know?"

Serah´s eyes widen as a mental image crosses her mind. She refrains the urge to wince, chastising herself for picturing such dire things, and prays she won´t be dreaming of something so traumatic, but the mere idea freezes her on her spot.

Lightning senses her sister´s hesitation, and comes to her rescue, as she is used to. "Wait, Falcon. As a matter of fact, I think you did wrong by taking Fang out of here. I think Serah and I would be a lot more comfortable if it were my best friend, and not my innocent sister, the one to accompany me at the exploration."

Serah shows Lightning her tongue in disapproval for calling her innocent, but nonetheless she runs outside to fetch Fang, grateful for having to avoid such a horrific and traumatic procedure.

Lightning just chuckles a bit. She knows her sister so well…

"Are you sure about this, Lieutenant? It´s really not that a big deal, and maybe it would help her to relax if she witnesses how easy the exploration actually is." Falcon says, though he´s smiling at Serah´s terrified look too.

"Yes, well, you´re a man, so I can see why you´re not that sensitive to Serah´s affliction. But anyways, Fang would be a lot more help than Serah." Getting ready for his work, the kind doctor still looks doubtful at Lightning´s words, so the woman sighs, trying to explain further. "My sister and I love each other dearly, Falcon, and trust each other to levels I would´ve never imagined. But still, there are things that a sister should never know of the other."

"That I can relate." Fang agrees with her as she walks inside the small room.

Lightning smiles thankfully at her best friend, though this time it´s a full smile, one that comes from deep inside, and Fang´s stomach flutter as she realizes she´s one of the few that can tell the difference.

"I´m glad you´re here, Fang."

"I´m glad I can be of help, Lightbug." She winks and smiles at her friend. She, too, flashes her best smile, trying to convey her unconditional support.

Falcon smiles too, witnessing the exchange. Both fighters had certainly become quite close, he notices. "Well then, if you allow me…" he gives a step towards them, and the two friends nod at him.

* * *

Outside, the three youngsters sit on the closest, hollow trunk that lies lonely on the mud, a few meters from the door of the infirmary, it´s empty carcass a result of the recently finished construction. There seems to be nobody around, all the soldiers gone to their respective houses, the on call soldiers must probably doing paperwork. But instead of feeling weary of the exposed surroundings, the trio of ex-l´Cie happily welcome the solitary landscape. The sun is dying now, very close to take a dive in the magnificent New Bodhum´s sea, its reflection forming golden crystals over the surface of the waves.

The evening breeze reaches the three young friends, rustling the light shaded hair of the trio, whose bodies are already bathed in an orange hue. They sit in silence, Hope in between the two beautiful girls, though this time he isn´t able to realize of his lucky spot, since he is lost in his own thoughts, just like the two young women.

Sitting close to the teen and also lost in thought, Serah still feels overwhelmed by the information, and, although happy to no end, she´s also very concerned for her sister.

Lightning can´t but love dearly the baby, right? Serah knows the stubborn soldier would do anything for the baby, even give up her life, but what about the father? He should be with them. Both her sister and the baby will always count on her and Snow, but there´s nothing that could replace a father, and Lightning and her can bare witness to that. But why isn´t the father with them? Does he know? Has Lightning told him? Who could it be? Who would´ve been weird enough to gain her sister´s affection? Serah sighs in frustration. Of the many questions, she is certain of at least one thing: the father definitely cannot be any normal guy. Knowing her sister, must probably the man is someone Serah could not imagine even in her wildest dreams.

_But who…?_

Serah tries to process all the information, mentally going through a list of men Lightning had mention so far, trying her hardest to come to a reasonable possibility. At that moment, Hope calls up her attention, his somewhat concerned face startling her, but she recovers quickly and beams at him.

"Hey Serah, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure Hope, you can ask anything, you know it."

Vanille, who had been grinning all the time at the turn of events, now pays complete attention to their exchange, her staring making Hope blush faintly and feeling unease. Serah notices this, so she takes Hope´s hand, trying to reassure him.

"You know you can trust us, right?"

He looks at his side, and Vanille´s huge smile meets him, trying to reassure the teen too, but making him even wearier. He smiles back, though somewhat unsure, but decides to give the step forward.

"Please Serah, tell me again, how was I at 25 years old? How was I when I met Lightning, in the future?"

"Oh Hope! Again?" Vanille protests, but Serah hushes her. For some odd reason she cannot place, the strawberry blonde actually likes to tell this story, to reassure the young, insecure teen about the fantastic man she knows he is going to become. After all, the adult Hope she got to meet really impressed her and made her feel utterly proud, even more so after Lightning told her about how supportive he had been during her sister´s quest for saving the world.

"Well Hope, I´ve already told you many times: you were amazing in the future, you helped us, Noel and I, through it all; you were so fantastic you made possible the construction of Academia, and the New Cocoon; and let me tell you this: the you in the future was very cute too, he had a lot of beautiful suitors chasing after him!" she giggles at that, even more so as she sees Hope´s blush becoming darker. "But Hope Estheim, the youngest director of the Academy, was too busy saving Cocoon to pay attention to such things. You were awesome, Hope!"

"What… what did Lightning tell you about me?" Hope still blushes at the many compliments, but he´s just too eager to hear more to stop now.

"Well," Serah gets pensive now, trying her hardest to recall Lightning´s every word, "she told me that she had missed you during her times as a Warrior Goddess, and that she felt utterly happy to have you tag along once again. She said that working alongside with you made her feel very proud, that you had become such a fantastic man, always supporting her, no matter what. She said that you and her became quite close during your time in Novus Partus, and that she had felt she could really count on you. She truly cares about you and loves you, Hope, did you know that?"

The teen blushes harder, but an enigmatic smile forms on his lips. "You think so?"

"Of course I do! Hope, she told me herself!"

As the teen´s smile broadens, Serah notices Vanille sending her a warning look, and a sign with her finger coming across her neck, begging her to stop. But Serah shakes her head, not understanding the reason of the red-haired girl´s concern, and instead, happy to see her friend´s countenance of utter happiness and pride, the pinkette keeps on.

"Lightning really cared about you, Hope, she still does. I would even go as far as to think she would give her own life to protect you."

Hope´s eyes are ablaze with some emotion that Serah can´t place, but that sends warning bells to Vanille.

"Don´t you think it´s too much of a guess, Serah?"

"No Vanille, you don´t know my sister. She´s not the kind of girl that allows any type of men to be around her that easily." The addressed pinkette is taken by surprise for the question, but recovers immediately and glares at the other young woman, who recoils instinctively, but at the same time feels amused at realizing how much such look resembles the eldest sibling.

"I just think you should be less generous of what you _might _think your sister thinks, you know?" Vanille still pushes on, though weary of the shorter woman. Not because she might be afraid of her, not at all, but she really wouldn´t like to have problems with the youngest Farron. She cares too much for her. But, on the other hand, Hope…

Serah is about to make a retort, but Hope intervenes, trying to stop the discussion. He has never seen the two close friends acting so unfriendly towards each other. "Well, the question I wanted to ask you, actually, is if you know exactly _how_ close she got to my future self?"

Vanille shakes her head in disapproval as Serah just stares at the teen, a little too lost on his words, a little too weary to address the question.

"Meaning…?" She finally adventures.

"Well…" Hope fidgets a moment, though he´s already too deep in the mud to step back now, besides, what else could he lose? "Do you think we were close enough to have a… a relationship?"

A pause. "Hope… you´re not actually suggesting… what I think you´re suggesting… right?"

The silver haired teen looks back at the infirmary as if looking for reassurance, his eyes ablaze with his namesake, and he sighs as he turns back towards the pinkette, intense jade orbs meeting azure ones.

"I just thought… wouldn´t it be great if Lightning´s baby were mine?"

Serah blinks once. Twice. She still refuses to acknowledge the words. "Hope…"

The teen pushes forward, as Vanille sends an 'I told you so' glare towards the strawberry blonde.

"Think about it, Serah! Lightning must´ve gotten pregnant _around _the time we settled on Cocoon, but on this timeline she didn´t meet any man, we all were around together, all the time, she didn´t have room for that. But _before _the timeline got fixed, by both you and her, Lightning _did_ meet some men, one of those men being _me._"

"Hope…" The young Farron wants to deny it, but the teen´s eyes are so filled with emotion, she can sense her stomach clenching. She doesn´t know if she wants to cry… or vomit.

_Lightning _will_ kill me…_

Watching Serah hesitate, Vanille finally decides to intervene, hoping she can still save the situation. "Yes Hope, but you´ve just made a point. She met _many_ men. Not only in Valhalla and Novus Partus, but also during her time as a warrior of Cosmos, as she called it. It could´ve been _anyone!"_

Serah snaps at them, annoyed at what she feels like an aggression to her sister´s honor. "_Not_ anyone!"

Vanille glares again. "You know what I mean…"

"Yes! Yes, I know!" Hope steps in between the two girls again, still pushing his point and getting annoyed by the path the conversation is taking, "but of all those men, it was _I_ the one closest to her! Serah! You´ve said it yourself!"

"Yes… yes I did, but… but..."

"Well…" Vanille starts to mull over it, finally seeing Hope´s point, even though she knows it´s against her best judgment. "We really don´t know how close she got to the other men, so you gotta admit it, Serah: Hope´s got a point, you know?"

"Vanille!"

"Yeah! I do have a point!" Hope intervenes again, alight now that the young woman seems to agree with him. Boosted as such, the teen attempts to rise from his spot. "Now if you excuse me, I´ll go ask her."

"No!"

Both young women jump at the teen before he even has the opportunity to move any further, and using their respective weights, they both push him down, struggling to hold him in place, Vanille lying on top of his lower body, while his face is pressed against Serah´s lap, as the young woman holds his upper body in a tight embrace. The feeling of both girl´s bodies pressing against his makes Hope´s blush return with a vengeance, even though he feels utterly aggravated by their actions.

"What the…?!"

"Wait Hope! Please wait a moment! You can´t just go there and ask her!" Serah is desperate to stop him from going to her sister. She can picture how disastrous that can be. But the teen is just too stubborn, and he pushes against them hard, the girls barely keeping him on hold.

_Damn! When did he got so strong?_

"Why can´t I go ask her?"

"Because… because…" Serah struggles with the words, but Vanille comes to her rescue.

"Because it must be such a trauma to her!" the young woman puts her most dramatic face and voice as she stretches as much as she can, just enough to allow the teen to take a look at her from his compromised spot. "Just imagine! She can´t be with the man she loves, and instead, she´s stuck up with a younger version of him! It must be tearing her apart"

Serah glares at Vanille, but the young woman just shakes her head, asking for some support, as she senses Hope´s struggles diminishing, most probably processing the idea, until finally the teen relaxes after a heavy sigh.

"Yeah… I guess you´re right. It´s a question that can´t be delivered without a hint of delicacy, right?"

"Exactly." Both girls speak in unison.

After a long pause where Hope doesn´t move against his restrains, both girls look at each other and decide he´s already contained, so they slowly release him.

Once free, Hope straightens and sighs again. "Guess I´ll have to wait ´till she´s ready to tell me. But man! The waiting is gonna kill me!"

Vanille sighs in relief, but instead of following suit, Serah´s heart clenches. What would Lightning think under such turn of events? Will she blame it on her? The young woman feels the shadow of a tremendous headache starting to form, and she moans.

* * *

AUTHOR´S NOTE:

I don´t own Final Fantasy nor any of its amazing characters.

I know this chapter might´ve been a bit too calm for my taste, but don´t worry, action and some blood is awaiting for our favorite soldier! So don´t get impatient!

On another note, I used the "Lightbut" name on Lightning instead of the usual "Sunshine", because I kinda liked the way it sounds, and I think it still fits Fang´s treatment of Lightning. It wasn´t my idea, but I don´t remember who wrote it first, so whoever did, it´s their credit.

So the first two names of possible fathers have come out! Yay! Wonder who would it be… XD

And Hey! If you push me enough, I might even make a bit of a harem story for Lightning! Mind you, it´s not the story´s intention, but it can still fit on the plot without really affecting the true direction. After all, she HAS met many handsome men during her adventures! (Picture this: Hope as an adult, Cid Raines, Snow, Rygdea, Amodar, Noel, Caius… and without mentioning the soooo handsome Dissidia men! I even fell for Gabranth!) And I bet some of them would be DYING to claim fatherhood of Lightning´s child, don´t you think?

I really hope you´re liking the story, and I´m sorry for not being able to post as often as I would like to, just please be patient with me. I rather make it a good story though scarce, instead of writing you many chapters with a fast update but with a very poor quality. Thank you so much for all the comments and supports! You´re sooo amazing!


	5. Chapter 5

ARMS WIDE OPEN

CHAPTER 5

* * *

It´s been almost a month since they found out about Lightning´s pregnancy, and three weeks since Fang got the small key of the Farron "residence" (the nickname bothers Lightning to no end, but Fang likes to call it that way because, even though it´s actually a small house, it houses the NORA group too, so it´s still the biggest house in New Bodhum), and in spite of the time and the complete trust they all have showed her, the tall Pulsian still can´t feel comfortable with entering uninvited.

Still thoughtful, Fang feels relieved to see the door is already wide open, as it always is during daytime, and steps in, admiring the simple but pretty arrangements of the house: there are two small wood tables immediately past the door, each one with its own fan on the ceiling, which gives a small respite from the hot and humid temperature of the beach; there are three large and pretty indoor plants that lie in each corner, adding a sense of freshness and life to the house; the colorful books and paintings on the walls are arranged in a very good taste, close to a soft and comfy couch that rests on its corner, a silent invitation to the exhausted guest… little details that make the house feel warm and comforting. It´s like the place is not housing a bunch of young, energized people, but instead it´s the house of a true family. Fang smiles at the thought.

_Well, that´s what we are, after all, right?_

As soon as she steps in, a strong but delicious smell hits her senses, and her eyes seek the source in a rush, finding it to her left and across the kitchen, where the Pulsian immediately spots Serah, busy with something that is already cooking: a sweet and tasty soup, Serah´s specialty, plus hot chocolate and… something else she cannot place.

"Hi."

"Oh! Hey Fang!" the young pinkette smiles, barely taking her eyes from her task, but obviously happy for the visit. "I´m glad you´re early to accompany us to breakfast! Where is Vanille?"

Fang shrugs. "You know her, early mornings are just not her thing. She´ll probably will be here by noon."

Serah pouts a bit and the warrior smiles. She knows lately, as days go by, the youngest Farron has been getting closer to the youngest Oerban, just as much as Lightning is growing closer to her,

"Too bad. Well I´m almost done here, so if you want to go fetch Lightning, I´ll make sure everything is ready."

"Sure thing."

Too happy to oblige, Fang steps inside Lightning´s small room. The place is filled with a soft morning light that pours through the window shades, illuminating Serah´s nightstand and bed, the one she has not used for months now and which houses a small, green plush toy, most surely Serah´s; Fang smiles faintly, completely understanding the eldest Farron´s feelings: Lightning seems reluctant to take the bed out of the room, even when the youngest Farron currently shares a room with her fiancé, and thus the bed is not being used. Fang shakes her head in amused disapproval, and looks for the soldier´s bed, noticing it´s already empty, but the sheets are still tousled, which means that maybe she just got out of bed.

_Getting up late? Well that´s odd... Lightning never sleeps past sunrise…_

The warrior gives two steps inside the room, when she hears odd sounds that come from the bathroom, next to the entrance door. The tall Oerban rushes towards it, concerned, and once she enters, she sees Lightning sitting on the floor, almost embracing the white toilet with both arms, her head bent over it, as retching sounds come from her seemingly abused throat, and Fang knows there´s no need for more explanations.

_Morning sickness… damn that sucks! _She curses, sympathizing with her friend, but somewhat weary to give the step forward, knowing how sensitive the soldier´s pride can be.

"Hey, Lightbug, you alright there?"

Lightning is panting, and after hearing the question she glares at the warrior for a second, before she throws up once again. Fang rushes towards her, holding her shoulder and helping her keep the strawberry locks out of the way. Once the retching is apparently subdued, Fang starts rubbing Lightning´s back, in an effort to soothe her, a gesture that surprisingly doesn´t elicit a rejection.

Being up close, Fang notices Lightning isn´t vomiting anything but for a few drops of saliva. Seems she´s run out of any contents to expulse.

Lightning spits a bit more, her stomach feeling still tender and in turmoil. She inhales deeply, and answers without turning to see her friend, as she wipes her mouth with a small towel.

"If I look… half the way I feel… then I must look terrible…"

"You do look terrible." Fang answers her, the grin obvious in her voice.

Lightning glares once more, and Fang finally is able to see up close the pale skin, the deep dark circles around the azure eyes, the almost white lips. Her heart clenches at the sight of her friend, consumed and exhausted, but still feels amused to see she hasn´t lost her spark.

"I would really like to take a picture of you like that," she jokes, hoping to lighten up the mood, "so that your baby knows the precarious state he or she has her mommy in at the moment."

"You know Fang? You´re such a great friend, always making me feel better." Despite her current condition, Lightning mocks, as she tries to stand up against the lightness of her head, although surprisingly she doesn´t slap the helping hand her friend is offering.

Instead of feeling relieved though, the action only makes the tall Pulsian even more concerned. Accepting help from someone so easily is definitely not a usual behavior from the stubborn officer, even if it´s Fang herself the one offering it. Ignoring the concerned look, Lightning rinses her mouth and then brushes her teeth, feeling still nauseated.

"Thought real friends always told the truth." Fang retorts.

"Speaking of truth, I really need to talk to you." Still brushing her teeth, Lightning gets in a serious tone, and Fang´s ears prickle with anxiety at it.

"You said that when we were at the infirmary, or at least that´s what I understood."

"Yes, but ever since Serah and Hope found out about the baby, neither of them have left my side for a second."

"And Snow still doesn´t suspect?"

Lightning rinses her mouth, feeling how slowly her strength is coming back to her. "According to Serah, she explained him they´re being overprotective of me, because she felt they had lost me."

Fang chuckles at the way the youngest Farron can control her man, and she ponders how it´s really not that surprising, now that she knows the sisters better. "That´s actually true, at some point, you know? You would be in overprotective mode if it were Serah, just like she is now with you. Baby or no baby."

Lightning sighs. "Yes, I know, but all this concern gives me no space to breathe, which means I can´t talk to you about things I would rather she doesn´t know."

"Like what? The identity of the father?"

She glares again at the Pulsian, though this time her eyes are ablaze with murder intent, but Fang just chuckles, unfazed.

"No, Fang. About the day of the accident."

Emerald eyes grow serious at her words. "You mean to tell me the explosion and the cave in weren´t an accident?"

Lightning sighs, suddenly feeling tired and stressed out. "I don´t have proof of it but I… I felt _something_, Fang_._ A feeling that chilled me to the bone, and that I´m almost certain I´ve felt before, during my time as a Warrior Goddess of Etro."

Emerald eyes open wide in surprise and a certain amount of fear. "You mean to tell me…?"

"Lightning! Fang! Breakfast is ready! And you better hurry up, because Snow is here already!" Serah´s yelling startles them both. Azure eyes meet emerald ones, sending her a pointed look.

"That´s what I´m talking about, I don´t get any privacy in here." Lightning feels angry for the interruption, but her expression is immediately replaced by one of utter concern, as she faces her warrior friend. "But it´s urgent we both talk. Alone."

"Any suggestions?"

"You may accompany me to my doctor appointment today."

Fang´s gut drop to her feet, and she pales somewhat. "Again? Why me?"

Lightning takes her eyes away from the other woman, wishing she cannot see the smirk behind her azure irises. "Because that´s the one place Serah won´t go with me. The only place we both will be left alone."

"I wonder why…" Fang moans.

"Hey! This is important, Fang." Though she scolds the tall warrior, Lightning chuckles behind her teeth at the resilience her friend is showing. Not that she couldn´t relate, but it feels good to be on the side of the torturer, for once.

"If you don´t consider Falcon." Fang defends herself.

"We can talk on our way there, or even ask him to allow us some private time. But believe me, it´s urgent that we talk, now."

"You had almost a month to tell me. Why now?!" The Pulsian still plays her last cards, completely against the idea of having to witness such an awkward medical exploration.

"Lightning! Fang! Hurry! I´m not calling you again!"

Serah´s yelling seems to be just behind the door, so the soldier shushes the warrior, and takes her by the hand, forcibly pulling her out of the bathroom and out of the room as well, as she exhales in exasperation.

"I´ll tell you all later." And with that, she lets go of her hand and heads towards the kitchen, followed closely by a very concerned Pulsian.

* * *

After a heavy breakfast, (though Lightning didn´t eat but a couple of bites), the soldier proves how right she is about her sister, since Serah suddenly remembered something important she had to do after knowing her sister´s appointment, something that couldn´t be done without her aid. So both the soldier and the warrior walk towards the Infirmary, though in a slow pace. Even though Lightning´s leg has already healed, there´s still a faint pain that lingers wherever she strains her step too much.

Fang understands and complies, but impatiently waits in silence a few steps, counting them so that she makes sure they´ve made enough distance from the house. But after what feels like a long time, the soldier remains silent, still reluctant to speak. Fang grows restless by the minute. She´s never been the patient type, so after the fourth house they pass by, she finally explodes.

"So, Lightbug. Are you telling me or not?"

Lightning sighs, gathering her strength. She still has her doubts, but if not Fang, whom else could she trust?

"You well know the last mission held place in the Mahabara subterra, in order to give protection to the Engineer Squad that´s researching new ways of acquiring natural resources." Fang nods silently, and Lightning goes on. "The camp was set on the northest side of the caves, almost two or three miles from the Sunleth Waterscape. For many days, nothing especial happened, or at least nothing important enough to report. But after the second week we were stationed there, I started to feel uneasy with no reason at all. We did encounter some fauna there, and even Pulsian machinery, but nothing out of the ordinary. Still, I checked and personally supervised every single safety measure, finding nothing out of place. But no matter how tight where our security measures, nor how much each of my men proved me over and over again we were in the safest spot and in the safest of circumstances, I still felt anxious, a feeling that grew stronger as time passed by. Starting the third week, though, the feeling grew tenfold."

"You never told Amodar about it?" Fang interrupts.

Lightning looks at their feet, the rhythmic walking steading her beating heart for a moment, as she considers Fang´s question.

"No. I didn´t want him to worry. After all, it was just a feeling, I had nothing to work with to prove we weren´t safe."

"But your instincts…"

"My instincts have failed me once. I couldn´t risk to create a paranoia among the civilians without a valid proof. We do need those resources, New Bodhum is running out of time as it is." She sighs, and Fang can practically see how a heavy weight seems to fall over her friend´s shoulders. "Anyways, I reported the Captain we were almost done, in spite of the storm, and that we all were ready and eager to get out of there as soon as possible. The rain hadn´t touch us inside the caves, and Ray said the helicopter was strong enough to carry us back home, so I asked Amodar permission to return to base. The day he gave us his permission, everything went down…"

* * *

_Lightning walks up and down the camp, eyeing the engineers working in a fast rate, already finishing the last of the details, and makes sure the engineers further inside the Mahabara are almost done too. They are nearly close to their departing hour, but the anxiety wouldn´t release her. She looks at her squad members, preparing their own gear to depart, six men sitting on the floor or rocks, each one lost in each of their tasks; she´s supervising their activity when, with no reason whatsoever, Lightning´s stomach boils and does a flip, as if she were about to get sick. Besides the exhaustion and distress she´s been in lately, today she adds a horrible nausea that takes her concentration away._

"_This is the last time I eat something you cook, Ray. I promise."_

_The said man laughs. "You´re the only one who´s feeling like that, Lieutenant. You sure you´re not getting soft on me? Hey!"_

_A small rain of dirt falls upon him, as the addressed woman kicks earth to her fellow comrade, in retaliation for the insult._

"_It´s not my fault your wife hasn´t shown you how to cook."_

_The rest of the men laugh at her words, even Ray himself is already doubling over out of laughter. "Hey Lieutenant! I´ll sue you for assault!"_

"_Not before I sue you for trying to assassinate your superior officer with that food of yours." _

_The men laugh even more, and Torreno, laughing as well, stands up from the dirt. "But that´s impossible, Lieutenant Farron, Ray would never try something like that against you!"_

"_Thanks pal!" _

"_Oh really?" a delicate eyebrow rises. "Care to tell me why can you affirm something like that?"_

"_The answer is simple, ma'am. Ray could never, ever hurt you because..." The man mockingly bows at her and locks eyes with his comrade, as Ray´s orbs open wide in terror. "The little rat there is madly in love with you!" The laughter reaches its highest point, some men even falling from their made up chairs, as the addressed man blushes furiously, hurling himself at his comrade, who doesn´t move fast enough to avoid the attack, his laughter still getting the better of him._

_Lightning can barely contain her laughter at their exchange, feeling her tension subduing a little, when suddenly her stomach does another flip flop and her head lightens up. She inhales deeply to steady herself, thankful nobody noticed her slip, when suddenly a feeling she cannot place clenches her heart, and she turns her head around, looking straight into the deepest part of the cave, as if she could place the origin of the assaulting sensation. The stomach distress is new to her, but the feeling over her chest is another matter. She has felt it before, though thousands of times stronger. She felt it the first time she looked at Crystalized Cocoon. _

_She felt it hundreds of years on her past. _

_As the memory comes back to her, her throat tightens, feeling true fear running up and down the skin on her back._

"_Are you ok, Lieutenant?" Torreno comes right behind her and takes her arm, but instead of calming her nerves, the touch startles her, but at least awakes her from the nightmare of memories she was getting into. It takes her a minute to tear her eyes away from the darkest part of the cave, addressing her teammate._

"_Yes, Torreno, yes I´m fine. Please, walk with me. We need to find Sarge, and meanwhile, I want you to update me on your latest patrol."_

_The man hesitates a moment. "B-but I´ve already told you all the details, Lieutenant."_

"_I know, but I need you to tell me once more, and try to include the slightest detail you might have suppressed, or had dismissed as irrelevant."_

_Torreno looks at her wearily, but complies. "Yes ma'am." _

_He starts retelling his patrol, step by step, but as he goes by, Lightning can´t find anything that could give her a lead to her uneasiness. They walk further inside the cave, towards the engineers' camp, where her second in command is patrolling at the moment. As Lightning finds him in the distance, she waves at him, prompting him to approach; Sarge nods his agreement, but as the man obeys, running towards them, she notices he´s alone._

"_Where´s Falcon?"_

"_Sarge told me earlier he gave him permission to patrol out of the cave, though he ordered him to take two of the new recruits with him, for his own safety." Torreno answers, not leaving her side for a moment. "Falcon needed to search for medicinal herbs; the youngster spotted a few useful ones on our way in."_

"_Youngster? He´s gonna kick your ass for that, you know?" She smirks. Though as a superior officer, she knows she shouldn´t allow the discipline to be relaxed among ranks, and even less encourage it, but she enjoys way too much the obvious camaraderie that reigns on her squad. It makes her feel like home even when they are miles away from their families._

"_Like he could do it." He retorts, as he waves at his superior, now a dozen of steps away from them._

_Lightning is about to imitate her subordinate when, seemingly out of nowhere, her chest tightens and she feels she cannot breathe, as a deep male voice resonates inside her head, unintelligible at first, accompanied by the worst headache she has ever felt in her life. She hesitantly gives a step forward, as her surroundings are dampened in a black hue, and without a warning, she loses the feeling of her body, as if it weren´t hers anymore, as if she´s forcefully kicked out of it. Somehow, she manages to look down, and sees her palm extended in front of her, the skin almost white, but looks at it as if it doesn´t belong to her. She hears people talking beside her, but cannot place the sound, cannot respond to their calling, when suddenly she hears bells resonate with a deafening sound, hurting her ears and forcing her to close her eyes tight shut, but then she can hear, above all the sounds, the male voice screaming at her, though this time she can understand the words._

Warrior Goddess…!

_She opens her eyes wide in terror, raising them to look straight at her, as a blinding light surrounds her whole, and she sees and hears no more._

* * *

"When I woke up, I was in the middle of an abortion threat, here at New Bodhum, so I didn´t know much about what happened after I passed out. But Sarge told me there had been three explosions in total, the last two created by the first, which they still don´t know the cause of it. After that, it came the cave in, apparently where most of us got injured. They said I somewhat saved their lives, because Sarge ran faster towards me when he saw I was passing out, distancing himself from the machinery that started the explosion, and Torreno was already close to me. Ray had followed us because he got concerned of the look I had." Lightning´s voice drops. "But none of the engineers survived, and most of my squad got lost too. Honestly Fang, it was a miracle we were on the crossroads. Though we were trapped, it happened to be the strongest part of the construction, the only one that resisted the implotion."

Fang stands silent for a minute, pondering Lightning´s story. After a moment, she dares to ask the question that lingers in both their minds. "You think it's… _him_?"

"You mean Caius Ballad?" the Pulsian nods. "I´ve been pondering over it myself, Fang, but the truth is, I can´t be sure, I couldn´t recognize his voice. But he´s the only one who ever called me like that. And, it definitely felt like a sense of… Chaos. It´s the only thing that makes my chest hurt so badly…"

"So what does it mean? That Caius is not dead and somewhat came back to destroy our world?"

Azure eyes meet emerald ones, and Fang can see the deep concern drawn in them. "I honestly don´t know, Fang."

The Pulsian hates whenever the light blue hue of her friend´s eyes darken out of worry, so she steps in front of her, halting her walk, somewhat angered at her fear.

"Fang?"

"So what if he has come back?" The warrior scolds the young officer. "We´ll defeat him again, right? We´ve made the impossible possible before. We can do it again."

"Fang…" Lightning warns her, but the stubborn warrior interrupts her.

"Don´t worry, Ligthbug. As long as we all are together, there´s nothing that can stop us. Not even a god. So lighten up, yeah? Do it for your baby."

The encouraging speech makes the soldier smile, her confidence returning somewhat, and at the last words, she instinctively places her palms over her belly. "You´re right, Fang. We´ll do this together."

Fang smiles at her friend and turns around to keep their walk, Lightning immediately following suit, and they both fall in a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts, until it´s Fang the one to break it again.

"Say Light, is the baby _his?"_

The blunt questioning takes the soldier by surprise, and she opens her eyes wide, taking her thoughts off track, but then settles immediately.

_Whatever awkward situation, you can always count on Fang to make it worse._ Lightning ponders with a wry smile.

"You know whose it is, Fang, there´s only one possibility and you know very well, no need to ask." She answers her Pulsian friend, a bit amused and a bit challenging, eyes boring into hers. "Why are you asking me now?"

The taller woman smiles, somewhat relieved, somewhat amused too. "Well, with people like you, one can never be sure."

"What´s that supposed to mean?" without knowing why, Lightning takes the comment as an insult, and her temperature rises a degree.

Fang is taken aback by the sudden outburst, but tries not to give it too much importance.

_It´s Lightning, after all, you can always expect explosions like that from her, and adding the plus of the hormones.._.

"It means that you´re always so secretive with your personal stuff, that it could´ve been another´s baby, one that you hadn´t told me about, or that you don't want to accept in front of me."

Lightning feels her face burn and her chest tightening in anger, as her eyes prickle. She cannot understand her body´s response, but fortunately is able to contain the explosion. Nonetheless, the strawberry blonde stops and faces the warrior, her eyes become like her namesake that try to pierce and strike dead the woman in front of her.

Fang stops too, but instead of retaliating, she holds her ground, unflinching, her unaffected attitude bothers the soldier even more, who grinds her teeth.

A second passes by, and Lightning is finally able to articulate her answer, but not without a seething tone in her voice, danger and pain embedded in it.

"You are the only one who knows of _his _influence in my life, no one else aside from you; you´ve always been the only one I´ve entrusted my life to, and my sister´s, almost blindly; you´re the only one that knows the most about me, things that not even Serah would know or even imagine. Isn´t that _enough_ for you to trust _me_?"

Fang feels as if the words have hit her harder than any blow, and lowers her eyes to contain the emotion, a brilliant smile forming on her lips.

"Yes, it is enough, Sunshine. But, you know?" she raises her eyes again, to meet azure orbs defiantly. "We normal people sometimes need to hear those words, especially from someone like you."

Lightning flushes at the statement, of anger or guilt, she cannot place. Her only reaction is to turn her face away from the woman, refusing to answer.

Fang chuckles at her reaction, thinking she probably hit the right spot. "Guess that means you want a change of subject, right?"

Lightning´s only response is to turn her eyes to her for a split second, only to turn them away from her again.

"Well then," Fang sighs, "are you still in love with him?"

Without a warning, Lightning sends a strike directly to Fang´s jaw, who moves fast enough to avoid the full hit, but the soldier´s fist still scratches her skin. The strawberry blonde passes beside her, colliding with the woman´s shoulder, and walking faster so that Fang won´t catch up.

"Hey!"

"Don´t come any closer Fang! It was a bad idea to ask you to accompany me."

Fang chuckles and hurries, though it takes her only a few steps to catch up to her. "Ok, ok, I just had to ask."

"You always _have to._" Lightning answers with a furious tone, as she pushes her stride longer, ignoring the dumb aching that starts to build in her leg.

Fang falls back some steps, weary of her friend´s anger but her smile growing wider.

"You know, Lightbug? You just answered my question."

Lightning remains silent, seething of anger, refusing to acknowledge the barrel of memories that Fang´s question has elicited. Fortunately for her, in a matter of minutes they both arrive at the military camp, and they are now a few steps from the infirmary, when she notices some commotion behind them, seemingly heading towards Amodar´s office. She stops, and sees a group of people getting closer to them. As Fang arrives at her side, Lightning counts at least ten people, apparently soldiers, and the two women stand motionless, bearing witness of the group of men approaching them.

The group gets nearer in less than a minute, and Lightning can recognize a couple of soldiers, all of them members of another squad, dragging an almost unconscious man by the armpits, apparently a prisoner, by the way the squad shifts around him; his torn and battered uniform hangs tightly at his bloodied and bruised body, and, in a closer look, the color of the material still calls up the attention of the officer: the yellow and black proportion is easy to place for a former Guardian Corps member: it´s unmistakably a PSICOM elite uniform. Lightning´s eyes widen in surprise and turns to see her friend, whose emerald orbs mimic her expression.

"Is that…?"

"A PSICOM soldier, yeah." Lightning answers before Fang can finish her question. They both remain rooted to their place as the group approaches. When they walk closer to both women, the soldiers salute their superior, Lightning responding on her own, and as they pass them by, the prisoner raises his head, and dark dull eyes look upon Lightning. As if recognizing her, the prisoner opens his eyes wide in surprise, and in spite of his blood-stained face, the man gives her a smile, leering at her but somehow making fun of her too.

"Aaahhh… the infamous Lieutenant Lightning Farron, am I right?"

Lightning freezes on her spot, a tremor running up her spine at the intensity of the man´s stare. "How do you know my name?"

The man answers with a nightmarish laughter that makes her heart miss a beat, as if the sound of his voice had marked the day of her doom.

* * *

AUTHOR´S NOTE:

I don´t own Final Fantasy, nor any of its awesome characters.

First of all, I´m sorry! I´m sorry! I´m sooo sorry! I swear to you I _wanted_ to write a scene where you can see Snow, I´m sure many of you miss him, but I swear I just _couldn´t!_ It´s not that I hate him, I do not, but… it´s just too much to bear! (I still can´t stand him much...) I promise you, though, we´ll see the scene where he finds out about Lightning´s pregnancy, but it just won´t be today. Please be patient! Also sorry for not updating sooner, but I was struggling with that scene, and it just didn´t get good enough. So I decided to post the chapter, and wait for the scene to give me a bit of inspiration.

I hope you like the idea of getting some drama, and even some blood, as scarce as it is, in our little story (I kinda missed it, to be honest). _Plus_ the name of another possible father comes up! Yay! XD

On a side note, I used the "Lightbut" name on Lightning because I kinda liked the way it sounds, and I think it fits Fang´s treatment of Light. It wasn´t my idea, but I don´t remember who wrote it first, so whoever did, it´s their credit.

Oh! Before I forget! Here are the answers for the unsigned reviews, thank you all for your kind words!:

Guest: would you _really_ think I would do that to you, creating a plot twist? *insert evil chuckle here* Guess you´ll have to wait and see!

Crystalshower: XDDD it´s so easy to fall for the handsome General! Right? I myself adore him, but we´ll just have to wait and see how it unravels. Be patient!

Thank you all for your comments!


	6. Chapter 6

ARMS WIDE OPEN

CHAPTER 6

The fact that the man is on his knees, bloodied and being dragged by his armpits, hold prisoner by four members of the Guardian Corps, seems to be of little relevance to the soldier. As the group approachs the two women, the ex-PSICOM leers at Lightning´s form, as if he owns her, a mocking smirk on his lips, his rude stare setting the woman´s rage on fire.

"I knew in the end we would find you, Farron. We´ve been a looong way from home just to see your pretty little ass."

"You, bastard!" Lightning gives a step forward, intent on landing a punch on the despicable face, but Fang firmly takes the threatening hand by the wrist, stopping the attack.

"Easy, Sunshine. He´s a prisoner, heading for far worse things than your fist. Save your strength for something better than this trash."

Lightning glares at the warrior but complies, even though her blood is boiling for the man´s insult. But one of the members of the squad that drags him, the soldier closest to the women, doesn´t hold back, and kicks his prisoner´s stomach, in retaliation for the jeer his superior has received.

"Show some respect to the officer, you dirt!"

As they pass by, the squad salutes Lightning one last time, and they proceed with their journey.

But in spite of the punishment, the PSICOM soldier sends a bloodied sneer at Lightning, even behind his painful countenance.

Then it all happens very fast.

The prisoner´s smile morphs into something else the moment an obstructive cloud moves with the wind, and allows the midday sun to bath Lightning´s form, making the soldier notice small details that had passed unseen to him: the flush on Lightning´s cheek that doesn´t have anything to do with her anger; her pink, full lips; the glow on her skin and the silk-like softness in her hair. Even the way she moves gives up so much information. Incredulously, and even while he´s been dragged a few steps away from them, he lowers his eyes towards her belly, and at the look of it, he notices the way her barely noticeable rounded form separates the bottom part of her sleeveless white jacket, making him realize the truth, and his dark eyes open wide in terror. Without a warning, he yells a cry that would match one of a wounded animal.

"Nooo! Abomination! Abomination!"

The scream startles everyone, and he takes the advantage of surprise, releasing himself from the grasp the soldiers have him on, and without breaking his momentum, he hits two of the men in the chin with his elbow. Not losing a single moment nor any effort, and before everyone else can react, the ex-PSICOM takes out a small stiletto he had been hiding under his sleeve, and without a second of hesitation, he lunges forward, aiming for Lightning´s body.

"Aaaarggghhh! You bitch! That child can´t be born! Abomination! Abomination!" He screams like a mad man, his bloodshot eyes fixed wildly on Lightning´s slightly swollen belly, while he moves fast, giving several quick steps closer to his target.

The small squad, now fully recovered from the surprise, lunges forward as well, an untimely attempt to stall his attack, and even Fang throws herself at the man, trying to stop him.

But no one moves as fast as Lightning, as she reacts like her namesake, blocking the man´s attack with her left hand, pushing the offending appendix outwards and forcing the man to open up his guard, while at the same time she withdraws her own knife from its holster, Serah´s gift to her on her 21st birthday. She holds her weapon with a knuckle-white grip, and without hesitating either, she plunges it right bellow the man´s chin, cutting flesh and nailing the tip of the blade deep inside the base of his skull, tearing apart the man´s brain stem. The injury disconnects his brain from the rest of the body, and as a result, his limbs drop instantly at his sides, his body almost hovering, sustained merely by the hilt of the knife and the strength of Lightning´s arms; the ex-PSICOM´s feet and part of his legs hang lifeless, scratching the ground, the rest of his body dangling loosely, as if the man were a puppet whose strings had just been cut off.

The enemy soldier is dead in an instant, Lightning´s attack coming out perfect: clean, precise, and deadly.

And completely unnecessary.

Fang and the squad members seem to be frozen on their spots at the turn of events, staring at them both in complete disbelief and awe.

But Lightning seems disconnected from everyone else around her, her countenance that of utter hatred, azure eyes almost black in rage, while she holds tightly the handle of her knife, now rooted deep inside the man´s skull, and slowly lowers him on the ground, his body now dead weight on her hands.

The feeling of warm blood dampening her fingers and forearms seem to snap the strawberry beauty out of her stupor, as Fang is able to witness the way her face transforms from a mask of absolute rage, to one of utter disbelief, as the pinkette looks at the dead man on her hands. The sight of the still warm corpse, of the empty look of death in his eyes, his body sustained upright merely by her bloody hands, seems to do the final trick, as her mind catches up with her and she drops her victim on the floor unceremoniously, as if he´d burned her, and she looks at her shaky hands with eyes wide open, her once ivory skin completely dampened on crimson, sticky liquid.

Once Fang sees that Lightning is moving again, she gives a step towards her, and is able to bear witness at the way her friend´s crystal eyes now seem haunted, lost… Not even during their l´Cie days had she seen her in such frightful state. In a way, seeing her like this frightens the warrior Pulsian too.

After a pause that feels like an eternity, one of the soldiers from the squad, a sergeant, gives a step forward and kneels in front of the corpse, breaking the heavy silent as he sighs.

"Oh boy. Captain Amodar isn´t going to be happy. We were taking him into the interrogation room."

Fang glares at the man, as Lightning´s eyes widen even more at the mention of her superior, giving an involuntary step backwards, her eyes traveling from the corpse to her friend´s still enraged countenance.

"I… I didn´t want to kill him, Fang. You… you saw… he attacked us… he wanted to hurt the baby… I didn´t want to kill him… I…" Lightning tries to justify herself, but her words are lost in the air, nothing coherent coming from her mouth at the moment. At least nothing she can understand.

At the unexpected stuttering, Fang looks at her best friend flabbergasted, completely at a lost of words too, but as Lightning´s hands keep shaking, the Pulsian warrior immediately recovers and she takes both hands on her own, trying to reassure her. Giving the only comfort she can think of at the moment.

"Don´t worry, Lightning. He did attack you first, I´m sure Amodar will understand. Anyways, you did the man a favor, he was heading towards a worse scenario than dying in your hands."

One of the soldiers snorts at the words, as he unrespectfully kicks the corpse, turning it upside down, so that it would be easier for them to carry it. "You got that right, ma´am. Anyone would be happy to die in the hands of Lieutenant Farron. Ouch! Sir?! What was that for?!"

The sergeant slaps the younger soldier in the head as Fang glares at him too, letting go of Lightning´s hands and giving a step towards him, intent on punishing the soldier on her own way. The young man gives a step backwards at meeting the blazing emerald orbs, but as the Pulsian is about to say something, the sergeant steps in between them

and raises his hand in a conciliatory gesture, preventing her from speaking, and then, with a swift motion, he withdraws the beautiful and now tainted blade, cleaning it with his own uniform, as he addresses a still shaking Lightning.

"If it´s ok with you, ma´am, we´ll take our leave. This _thing_ needs to be taken to the infirmary, for a necropsy." He gives a step towards his superior, a comforting gesture on his countenance, as he offers the hilt of the knife to its rightful owner. "Don´t worry, Lieutenant, I´ll explain everything to Captain Amodar. Just please take some rest. I´ll do everything that needs to be done."

Lightning doesn´t look at him, nor reacts to his words, her azure eyes still fixed on the corpse, and Fang is forced to take the weapon in her name.

"I think I´ll handle this, thank you. Just make sure the captain knows of what truly happened here."

"Don´t worry, Fang." The sergeant amicably reassures her. "I´ll make sure the Lieutenant doesn´t get into trouble. This man doesn´t deserve it."

He turns towards Lightning again, but as he salutes her respectfully, she only nods slightly. The man smiles at her, nods at Fang, and then turns and leaves with his squad, three of the soldiers carrying the corpse with them. Thankfully, none of the men says anything else as they take their leave, their training and respect for their superior evident in their silence.

Once they´re all alone, Fang steps in front of Lightning, emerald eyes searching for azure ones.

"Hey, Lightbug, you look terrible." Fang snorts, but as she doesn´t elicit the expected response, and instead her cheeky retort is only met by silence, she starts to worry, and thus takes a more serious approach. "Look, Light, this isn´t the first time you kill a man, remember? And even less a PSICOM soldier. Why are you like this?"

After a moment, azure eyes finally rise to meet her friend´s emerald orbs, and Fang is taken aback by the utter confusion behind them.

"Because I´ve never felt I had lost control in such a way, Fang. It was as if it wasn´t me the one holding the knife. I felt as if it was someone else."

"What are you trying to…?"

"No, no." Fang´s confusion seems to wake Lightning up from her mental state, as she hurries to correct her words. "I don´t mean I was possessed or something. It was me, alright, but felt as if I wasn´t in control, as if I was blinded and my body only acted, leaving out my brain´s commands. It felt as if a primal instinct had taken over my body, Fang. He _did_ attack the baby first, but I have never killed a man just because I _can_." As she speaks, Lightning´s face darkens, as if she was reliving those haunting moments. "The moment I heard his words, and saw the intention on his eyes, I just _lost it. _I wasn´t thinking, I only knew he couldn´t be left _alive._" She sighs, hands still shaking. "It wasn´t me, Fang. It´s not like me to lose control like that. And the idea frightens me."

It finally dawns on the Pulsian warrior. At first, a big 'O' is written on her lips, but then a small, sad smile is drawn on her face, as she gives a step closer to the soldier.

"Then it´s perfect it´s me the one you´re talking to."

The azure orbs are inquisitive, but the emerald ones only shine in sadness and guilt.

"Have you forgotten? Lucky you. Let me remind you that I did, too, lose control over hate and rage once."

As she remembers, Lightning is about to voice an apology, but Fang lifts her hand to stop the words from coming out. They both fall in silence, each pondering their own thoughts at the last events, until Lightning finally breaks the silence, steeling herself to make the question.

"How did you feel, Fang? What where your thoughts when you became Ragnarok?"

If possible, the smile saddens even more, as Fang envelops the bloody, still shaking hands on her own. "I think you just got a glimpse of it."

oooooooXIIIOOOOOOOOOOooooooX IIIoooo

"Report, Sergeant Clairmont."

Captain Amodar enters to his office through the wooden door, barely acknowledging his subordinates, as he focuses his dark eyes on the sergeant standing closer to the door, the same sergeant who had held hostage the deceased prisoner. The office is a small room, almost empty of furniture, except for an old bookshelf, a rusty cabinet; a large, dark desk with many papers scattered all over the surface; and what seems to be a very comfy, though quite old, brown chair. There´s a large window close to the desk, which allows enough daylight to enter into the room, and allows too, an excellent view of the military camp.

Lightning, along with three more lieutenants and four sergeants (commanders and second commanders of each platoon), stands on attention once her superior enters. She doesn´t move, doesn´t even blink as the Captain passes by her, but he does take a swift glimpse at her barely noticeable swollen belly, and the old soldier smiles faintly, trying to avoid any possible sign that would give away how pleased he is to know of her pregnancy. He knows how sensitive she might get whenever he shows the fatherly feelings he has for the stubborn lieutenant and her beautiful baby sister.

As he takes his place behind the desk, the sergeant he had addressed takes a step closer to him; the man is the same who had held hostage the deceased prisoner.

"Yes sir, my report goes as follows: at 800 hours we were patrolling around the area of New Bodhum, close to the mountainside, when we noticed three men dressed in PSICOM uniform, and with an estranged, stealth-like attitude. We thought they were trying to hide, while watching at our settlement. We suspected them to be spies, gathering information from our military camp; therefore, we engaged them on battle."

As the man speaks, Amodar leans further into his chair, one hand over his chin, apparently deep in thought as he pays close attention to the man´s words.

"As we were superior in number, we defeated them easily, having to kill one, and taking two prisoners. But one of them committed suicide right there before we could stop him, using a hidden stiletto, so we brought to New Bodhum the last man standing. We made sure we weren´t followed, nor left anything that would give away what happened in the place. There were no casualties on our side."

"So you brought a prisoner." Amodar finally says, pleasure and pride obvious on his voice. "Did he disclosure any information about his mission?"

The man takes a swift look at Lightning, obviously uncomfortable at the question, but steels himself and proceeds his report, though his slip doesn´t pass unnoticed by the veteran Captain, who takes a look at Lightning too, this time with a questioning look. The pinkette still doesn´t move.

"We couldn´t arrive into the interrogation room, because… we stumbled upon Lieutenant Farron and her Pulsian partner, and as we did so, the prisoner attacked the Lieutenant without any provocation whatsoever. She was forced to kill him." The way he emphasizes his last words makes Lightning realize he´s keeping his word, trying to make sure she wouldn´t get into too much trouble; she smiles lightly at him in gratefulness and respect.

Amodar raises an eyebrow at his officer, while Lightning takes a step forward, looking straight at her superior.

"I´m sorry, Sir, it wasn´t my intention to kill him, but he did attack with murder intention. I had no choice."

"Of course you didn´t." He smiles at her, proud of his protégé's prowess, but still stressed out by the killing. "So the prisoner is dead. Was there any information you could acquire before this happened?"

Lightning and the sergeant interchange looks, but is the strawberry blonde the one who speaks. "Besides the insult and the attack, he did say they had been looking for _me._ Though he didn´t specify whom he meant by 'we', nor how many."

Amodar´s countenance darkens at her words, and he looks outside the window for almost a full minute, while his subordinates wait for him. He finally addresses the other female officer he has under his command, a blond, thin, and short woman with rounded glasses decorating her face.

"What do you have for me, Shelley?"

The addressed officer gives a step forward and smiles apologetically at her superior. "There´s information about New Oerba being attacked again, by ex-PSICOM. The two Guardian Corps Companies established in the city were able to keep them at bay, though with too many casualties, including civilians. They recollected too, information about few other Gran Pulse settlements that weren´t so lucky. The communication with Cocoon hasn´t been established yet, so we don´t know anything about the condition of the government up in the Cocoon cities, Sir."

Amodar nods and remains silent for another minute. Their officers await him patiently, except for Lightning who, after allowing him a moment, gives another step towards him.

"Sir, you know there´s a war coming up, and these PSICOM soldiers are proof of that. We are no longer able to ignore this simple truth."

He looks straight at the azure eyes, his own orbs darkening at her words. "So what is your advice, Lieutenant? That we join the melee?"

She doesn´t waver at his irony, her resolution settled. "No Sir, we don´t have enough forces to make an all out attack against the remaining PSICOM. They have the upper hand on this. But we could at least protect ourselves, get ready for a battle in case they do find us."

But before Amodar can respond, one of the officers, Lieutenant Byron, a dark skinned, tall, and handsome man gives a step forward, addressing his comrade first, and then the Captain.

"We are deep beyond the Yaschas Mountains, Farron, far from Cocoon Crystal Tower, and even further from New Oerba or New Palum. I really don´t think we should create unnecessary panic among the civilians for merely a bunch of astray soldiers."

"I don´t think…" the sergeant who had been reporting tries to address his superior, but the officer only glares at him, effectively shutting him down, and turning his dark eyes on the azure ones; but Lightning is already glaring menacingly at him.

"If you´d let him finish, Byron, you´d see the sergeant agrees with me. They were _not_ astray." She turns to address the captain, her azure eyes ablaze in worry. "I´m sure they were a recognizance patrol, Sir, and they´ve _found us_. They were on advance, so I´m concerned they´d soon be followed by a greater force. And we might not be prepared for that." She finishes, glaring defiantly at the man called Byron, as he scoffs at her words.

"But Byron´s got a point, Farron," Amodar interrupts her, "we have to be careful on the information we give. I can´t create a massive hysteria among the civilian population based on a mere hunch."

Lightning´s eyebrow twitch at his words, but fortunately, she´s able to hold back her anger. "I´m just saying, Sir, that we should be prepared for anything that could come our way."

He leans backwards on his chair. "An excellent advice, though I´m more concerned by your reasoning. Is there something I should know, Lieutenant?" he looks questioningly at her, dark eyes trying to read through crystal ones, and she holds his gaze, unblinking. After a couple of seconds, and without taking his eyes from hers, Amodar dismisses the rest of his subordinates. "Farron, I need a word with you. The rest are free to leave."

The officers and sergeants salute and abandon the office, though some of them look at Lightning with curiosity in their eyes. Once the rest are gone, Amodar breaks eye contact and stands from his chair, walking towards the window.

"So tell me, Farron, what´s on your mind?"

Lightning refuses to look at him, but she feels her palms sweaty. "What do you mean, Sir?"

"Oh, don´t play innocent with me, Farron!" He finally snaps at her, making her jump a tad, an action that, in spite of his worries, makes him feel pretty satisfied at himself, though he hides it perfectly well. "I know you well enough to know there´s something very important you don´t want to tell me but are dying to do so. So please spit it out before I grow impatient."

Lightning sighs. "There´s a war going on, Sir…"

"Yeah, you´ve already told me that." He waves his hand, dismissing her words.

Lightning looks straight at him. She knows she can´t disclosure much of the knowledge she acquired during her previous 'lives', but she knows, too, that the information is of vital importance. It could even determine her survival and her family´s. So she makes up her mind, and decides to share only the necessary information.

"This will be a long war, Captain, a bloodied one, though for once I thought New Bodhum was going to be spared. But if the intrusion of these PSICOM men are any indication, we should be prepared for an attack any time soon."

Amodar holds her unblinking gaze. "Is there a way you can tell me your source?"

She doesn´t lose eye contact, but he can see the sadness that falls upon the azure orbs. Lightning looks at him almost apologetically, as she slowly shakes her head in denial.

The man then sighs and nods at her, accepting the scarce information and respecting her privacy. The captain knows the strawberry blonde officer has been through a lot, so much more than anyone has at her young age; he can sometimes see the old soul she´s harboring inside of her, as if she had lived so many lives already, seen just too much. He looks again through the window, watching his soldier´s training exercises, as he ponders over his subordinate´s words. Lightning just waits for him to come to a decision, unmoving, unflinching. When the decision finally arrives, her chest hurts at the defeated sound of his voice, though once his words catch up with her mind, a blaze of fury ignites inside of her.

"I don´t like the 'we' part, Farron."

"Excuse me?"

He turns to address her, his dark eyes settled with determination. "If I take your advice, do I have your word that you´ll step out of the fray?"

It feels like cold water splashed all over her body. "Sir! You can´t be seriously asking me that!"

"You´re right. I´m ordering you to step aside from the battlefield. Your second in command will take your place."

She feels outraged, betrayed, and gives a threatening step towards the captain. "Sir! You have no right…!"

"But of course I have, Farron. I´m your superior." He stands his ground, unflinching, holding his stare against Lightning´s worst glare.

As she sees her actions are met with stalwart resistance, she instead tries to reason with the man.

"Captain Amodar, I´m asking you not to treat me any different just because I´m pregnant, that´s absolutely unethical."

"Are you making an observation to your superior officer?" An eyebrow raises, as his black eyes bore into hers, threat behind them, and Lightning realizes she might´ve crossed a limit. It´s amusing, and sometimes unnerving, how a man so gentle like Amodar can become a raging volcano in a span of seconds. It somehow reminds her of Serah.

Lightning lowers her head in shame, trying to hold back her anger. "No Sir. You know I´ll never do that to you."

"I´m glad to hear that." He breathes, relieved that he didn´t have to go any further with her, but still pushes a bit more. "Because Farron, be certain that, if you disobey in any way this order I just gave you, I´ll take you to prison." She raises her head to protest, but he interrupts her, though his anger seems to have melted down a bit. "It´d work for me in two ways: first, because that´s disobedience, and you well know in the military it is paid with jail; and second: it´s the only way I´ll make sure you _both _are safe." He finishes his sentence by taking a meaningful glance at Lightning´s belly. It seems to do the trick, since Lightning settles a little more the moment he addresses her baby.

She breathes in and stands on attention, saluting the man, her last effort to control her anger. "Aye, aye, Captain."

Her voice is almost a whisper, defeated, making Amodar feel a little bit guilty, but as Lightning lowers her hand, he forces himself to remember he´s doing it for her. Seeing that she´s finally calmer, Amodar returns to his chair, sighing in obvious exhaustion, and continues to explain.

"Don't worry, Farron, be rest assured I´m not treating you any differently than I´d treat Lieutenant Shelley, in case she were to be on your condition. I´d take her out of the front line, even though she´d still be on my advisory team. Just like you are."

"You don´t have soldiers to spare…" she still pushes forward, though with less strain this time. He smiles at her stubbornness. That´s some of the things that makes Lightning one of the best of her field, and he knows that.

"You´re right, I don´t. That´s why your next assignment would be to get the NORA team enlisted."

"What? Those morons? You can´t be serious!" In spite of her efforts, she still snaps at his words. "They´ll never join the Guardian Corps! And honestly Sir, I wouldn´t trust them in the military either."

Amodar struggles to hide the smirk that plays on his lips. _Fang is absolutely right: it feels so good to make Lightning squirm! _He harrumphs to recover and retaliates with a frown directed at her. "None sense, Farron! They´ve proved their worth during the war before The Fall, and you´re a witness to that. You should´ve stepped out of that attitude against your brother-in-law a long time ago."

"_Yet to be_ brother-in-law, Sir." She spats at him, more out of habit than true resilience.

The man chuckles at her stubbornness. "Whatever. You´ve got your mission, Farron. Or can you tell me any other way to get more men to the fry?"

She starts to protest but holds back her retort, as she ponders for a moment. After a few seconds, she finally speaks her mind.

"What do you think of the Liberation Army?"

oooOOOOOoooooXIIIoooOOO

The sun is falling now, illuminating in an orange hue the four figures sitting on the living room of the NORA house (or rather, the Farron mansion, as Fang always likes to call it), as a warm, soft breeze enters through the open door.

Lightning is lying on the sofa, her head resting on Serah´s lap, strawberry locks spread wildly across shorter legs, as small hands caress the silk-like hair soothingly, making Lightning sigh from time to time. Though it´s a relaxing ritual the two siblings share in a regular basis since they got together, it´s still a sight to behold. Fang and Vanille, sitting across the Farron sisters, interchange a look and share a smile, knowing their thoughts go through similar paths, as Vanille mouths a 'so cute!' and Fang just nods as a response.

"So," Serah breaks the silence, without taking her sight from her sister´s face, whose eyes are still closed, enjoying the small moment of peace. "You say you two couldn´t go to the doctor, because an ex-PSICOM soldier attacked my sister without a warning nor a reason whatsoever?"

Fang nods, looking from Vanille to Serah and back to Vanille, trying to explain the strange events that happened earlier in the day. "Well, yes and no. At first he just mocked Lightbug a bit, trying to provoke her, even though the guards kicked him, but when he took a good look at Light, it was like…" she pauses, searching for the right words.

"… like he somehow _knew _I was pregnant," Lightning takes advantage of the pause and continues, opening her azure eyes slowly, looking at the celling instead of her sister, who watches her sibling´s countenance in concern. "I don´t know how, but he knew by just looking at me. And apparently, for him, my pregnancy was reason enough to attack me."

"And you say he called you 'abomination'?" Vanille asks and both women nod. Lightning closes her eyes in anger and shame, while the two younger women exchange looks. "Well, Light, it´s not a secret there are people who hate us, and would thus think of us as something dirty. You can imagine what it would be like for them to find out that you, the leader of us, of all people, were going to have a baby, right? I´m guessing that´s where the word came from."

"It made me feel… dirty." Lightning´s beautiful face contorts in a mask of fury, as she recalls his words, his attack, and the way she lost control. "Losing it like that scared me, as I already told you, but…" she looks straight at her sister´s eyes, and Serah holds her stare, knowing how much Lightning needs her understanding now. "But what results more frightening, is that it also felt _good,_ to just let go…"

"I can relate to that." Fang smirks, which elicits a small smile from Lightning.

"But the question still lingers." Vanille continues. "What is PSICOM doing here, in New Bodhum? So far from the base of Cocoon?"

Serah fidgets at first, but decides to explain. She knows the knowledge could be of some help given the situation. She finds her sister´s eyes once more, and Lightning nods slightly, giving her the green light to share with the others what they both know.

"Before we fixed the timeline," Serah starts, her hand still working on her sister´s locks, though this time she´s the one being reassured by the movement, "there was a three-year war, were two armies were formed. One was formed by the filth of the original PSICOM, mostly the ruthless, most deadly mercenaries, and some of what they considered elite; they used the same name to terrorize the rest of the villages formed in Gran Pulse; they claimed their purpose was to take revenge on all of us ex l´Cie, and wanted to return to the fal´Cie government. Their modus operandi, whenever they found a Gran Pulse settlement, was to recruit 'volunteers' for their army, kidnapping their families and holding them hostage, to force the people to cooperate with them. Though their treatment of the ex l´Cie was less… thoughtful, rather cruel. They were former mercenaries, after all."

Vanille gasps. "That´s horrible!"

Serah nods at her and continues, not addressing Fang´s darkened countenance. "The other group, called the Liberation Army, was made up of people who knew what the fal´Cie really were, and who accepted the new way of life; most of them came from the Guardian Corps, ex PSICOM, some civilians that wanted to protect their new homeland and, of course, ex l´Cie. They wanted to prevent any possibility of fal´Cie returning to power. But although they were the most popular side, ex PSICOM had the advantage of technology, so the war, though short-lived, was nonetheless devastating."

Serah pauses to sigh. Though she never witnessed the destruction and deaths as a consequence of the battles, during her time travel she met some people who did. Witnessing the repercussions of the war even now weights heavily on her shoulders. After a moment of silence, she keeps explaining. "On the original timeline, that war only lasted three years, but it had _never_ reached as far as New Bodhum. But…" she turns to meet her sister´s eyes, as azure orbs open in understanding, a conclusion she hadn´t reached before, "that happened in a time where you were thought dead, Claire, where everyone assumed you had sacrificed yourself for all of us, because neither of us could know whether you were with Fang and Vanille, holding up Cocoon. They always said the smartest thing to do was to assume you had perished during the fall. And now…"

"And now, in this timeline, you are here Lightning, safe and sound," Vanille continues, catching on with her friend´s train of thought, "and thus, PSICOM mercenaries know the leader of the l´Cie, the reason of the fall of Cocoon, is alive and well, hiding somewhere in Gran Pulse."

"Which means they´ll come to New Bodhum to find 'volunteers' for their campaign, and…" Fang starts, but Lightning interrupts her, getting up from her comfortable spot, and with a serious, but determined look on her face.

"… they´ll come looking for _my_ head too."

The two younger women stare at her, fear for her life tainting their beautiful features. But as the soldier searches for Fang´s eyes, she only sees the emerald orbs looking back at her, the blaze ignited behind them, and realizes they´re a perfect mirror of her own determination.

"You know we´ll never allow that to happen, Lightbug. We´re here for you, and for the baby, got that? You can tell Amodar just about that. And he surely can count on us in his game." She turns to see Vanille, as she agrees with her with a smile.

Lightning smiles softly and nods, thankful for her best friend´s words, and as Fang nods back, as if in previous agreement, the warrior and the soldier stand up, both at the same time, not losing eye contact for a second.

"Fang? Where are you going?" It´s Vanille the one who asks, but knows without looking that Serah is holding Lightning by the arm too.

"We have to go see Amodar."

"Again." Lightning finishes.

"Light…"

But as they stride towards the door, Snow makes his entrance, a shinning smile illuminating his face.

"Sweetie, I´m home!"

Lightning comes face to face with the man, and he fidgets a moment, as she rolls her eyes in exasperation, right before a yelling Serah pushes past her and throws herself at the bulky man, who holds her tightly.

"Oh, please! Get a room!" Fang throws at them with exasperation, but is Lightning the one who responds, punching her hard on the arm. "Ouch! What, Sunshine? I didn't say anything to you!"

"You _know_ why."

As Fang rubs her abused arm, Vanille giggles, while Serah and Snow kiss fervently in front of everyone.

"That´s about enough, Snow, you´ll suck the life out of my sister, and you´ll answer me for that."

Though Snow does jump back at her words, Serah turns slowly towards her sibling, glaring dangerously at her. But Lightning just passes by them, blatantly ignoring the murderous look her sister is giving her. Before she steps out of the house, she stops, and just slightly turns her head to address her soon to be brother-in-law.

"By the way, Snow, I need the NORA and the rest of the family in here for breakfast tomorrow. Make sure everyone is here, got that?"

"Why, Sis? Something happened?"

She refuses to look at him, least her expression would betray the emotions she feels. But her eyes do find Serah´s, and her baby sister reads her face like an open book. As Serah´s beam illuminates the room at understanding her sister´s intentions, Lightning´s heart lifts a moment, and her voice comes out gentler, even sweet.

"Yes, I´ve got two announcements to make. One of them I should´ve made a long time ago."

With that, she steps out of the house, the incredulous yet beautifully happy countenance lighting up her sister´s face fixed on her memory, and the stubborn soldier realizes it might be the best thing for all of them.

As the eldest Farron walks away, followed closely by her best friend, Serah´s throat tightens, while Snow places a reassuring hand over her shoulder, still lost on the meaning of her sister in law´s words.

"She looks… rather worried. Baby, is Sis ok?"

Serah nods silently, as she holds her fiancé tightly; the youngest Farron has a feeling she can understand her sister´s actions, and her smile grows wider.

_Thank you, Claire. You know he´ll be an amazing uncle. He´ll protect your baby with his life. Just like I will_.

OOOOoooooooooXIIIooooo

Author´s Note:

Ooohh finally! I finally finished it! And OMG! Six thousand words! Man this was hard aaaand long! Hope you liked it, though. And yeah, you´re right: we are getting closer to the true main plot AND to the father´s name! yay!

Thank you soooo much for everyone, for your amazing reviews! Really, whenever you drop something like that at me, it's like fuel to keep on writing! Thank you all!

On another note: I don´t own final fantasy XIII nor any of its amazing characters. If I did, Lightning would have a harem in the game already! XD. I´m writing this just for fun and because I adore Lightning.


	7. Chapter 7

ARMS WIDE OPEN

CHAPTER 7

ooooOOOOOoooooXIIIoooo

"Lightning? Lightning! Are you there?"

In spite of being already past 7 in the morning, Lightning´s bedroom is still enveloped in darkness, not even a ray of moonlight to illuminate a simple silhouette, so the younger pinkette isn´t able to place one shadow from the other.

"Lightning? Can I come in?" She calls once more to her sister, but obtains no response.

The youngest Farron takes a step backwards, hesitant, but as she does it, her foot falls over a larger one, right behind her.

"Ough!"

She jumps slightly as a male complain explodes in her left ear.

"Sorry Noel! But I told you to stay back!" A delicate finger over her lips, she turns around to reprimand, in a whisper, the young man behind her, a dark haired man, whose clothes are so resembling of Fang´s, that sometimes she just can´t stop but wonder whether the two Pulsians are somewhat related.

"Y-yeah, I´m sorry! Won´t happen again." The addressed one takes a step backwards, still jumping in one foot as he holds the abused appendix, as Serah peeks inside the bedroom once again. The illumination hasn´t changed, even though dawn is falling upon them, so she decides to turn on the lights, and finds one of the beds perfectly made, while the other, the one closest to the window, is completely empty, its sheets scattered over the floor, and the comfy pillow carrying the print of its owner´s head on it.

_Well, at least she slept here. _Serah ponders. While she inspects the unmade and messy bed, Noel peeks a bit inside, still hesitant on entering the room. As he gives a step backwards, feeling awkward for his intrusion, he notices the door of the bathroom half open, though the lights are still out, and he dares a glimpse at the inside.

"Serah? I think I just found her."

The youngest pinkette takes a look at the bathroom too, and finds the athletic figure of her older sister, barely illuminated by the light of the hallway, sitting at the bottom of the bathroom. Indeed he had found her.

Lightning, dressed in a white nightgown, is sitting on the floor, in front of the toilet, both arms and legs holding its base, while her cheek is resting over the lips of the white and cold furniture, wavy strawberry locks enveloping her back and partially covering her face. As Serah gets closer, she notices the rhythmic breathing and the closed eyelids. The rough lieutenant is deep asleep, completely oblivious to the uncomfortable position. Serah can´t but feel a pang of tenderness over the sight.

_Poor Sis, the morning sickness must be getting rough on her._

They both approach her as silently as they can. Serah leans down and takes her gently by the shoulders, retrieving the limp body from the toilet, as she addresses the young man accompanying her.

"Help me out, Noel, let´s take her to her bed. I´m glad the rest of the gang is still asleep, because I think we´ll have to wait ´till she´s in better shape to receive her guests."

"What happened? Did she get drunk or something?" Noel asks, concerned to see someone he looks up to, in such a bad state, as he approaches to help the small pinkette. "Though I really don´t smell anything like alcohol or pot around here."

"Let´s just leave it at 'something'." Serah responds, as she passes one limp arm around her own neck. "I think you got home right on time."

She´s about to hop her up, but Noel makes a stopping sign.

"Please, Serah, allow me."

Without further ado, the young man takes the unconscious pinkette on his arms, making sure her head rests on the base of his neck, instead of dangling on his sides. As if by instinct, Lightning´s left arm comes up and falls over his shoulder, her hand taking hold of his neck in a survival gesture. The movement makes the two intruders hold their breaths, motionless, afraid of waking the soldier up, but Lightning remains as immobile as before, and they both breathe out again.

"Watch it! You´ll wake her up!" Serah whispers a reprimand.

But as both look at the sleeping woman intently, Lightning doesn´t flinch, nor seems to do any sign of awareness, and Noel winks at his fellow, a smirk on his face.

"I know what I´m doing."

"Sure you do." Serah smirks. Such an odd gesture on her, Noel ponders. She must be getting too close to the NORA team. Carefully, he takes the young woman to her bed, the youngest pinkette close behind them.

As he walks with Lightning´s body in his arms, Noel feels impressed by how little she weights. For such a strong woman, Lightning certainly is slim. He looks down at her face, and up close he realizes, amazed, how she resembles so much her younger sister, kindness and tenderness included. And beauty. Or maybe, just maybe, even more beautiful, because her features, more refined and mature than her sister´s, seemed as if chiseled by a master artist. Up close, he realizes a simple truth he hadn´t acknowledged before, as he smiles and his heart picks up its pace: Lightning is indeed a beautiful woman.

He sighs and then scolds himself, feeling suddenly aware of his companion. But Serah doesn´t seem to notice his slip, concerned as she is on her sister´s health, so he focuses on his task ahead, walking as softly as he can, so that he won´t wake up the sleeping beauty.

But his deep inhalation doesn´t pass unnoticed to everyone, since his movement makes Lightning´s head move a little lower, placing her left ear over the top of the man´s chest, and allows her to hear and feel the strong drumming of the young heart.

As her two senses awaken with such beating, Lightning´s smell awakens too, as she´s hit by strong, very masculine scent. She inhales deeply, allowing more scent to enter her nostrils and register in her brain, the virility of the smell triggering an instinctive and very primitive response on her. She leans closer to the heat of the body, as the rest of her sense of touch is multiplied tenfold in every inch of her skin. She can feel him now, in every part of her flesh that´s in contact with his warmth, and she shivers, as the deepest, most intimate part of her body begins to swell and dampen. The automatic response also starts to bring her consciousness back, and she feels the way she´s being laid down on a comfy, soft surface, and is aware too of how his hot breath travels from her ear to close to her lips, just as Noel is letting go of her body. The hand that is surrounding his neck begins a travel downwards, the highly sensitive nerves of her palm registering the hard muscle underneath his clothes, and she moans, as her body arches towards him, searching for the heat it has lost.

The moan freezes Noel on his spot, as the primitive part of him is stroked by the sound and is trying too, to disconnect his brain and take control of his body responses. The husky sound suddenly makes him feel well aware of his arms just barely touching the soft skin of her back and bare legs, and he retrieves both hands, as if the touch had burned him, as if he had just been caught up holding a forbidden treasure. But unfortunately for him, Lightning´s hand has trapped the fabric of his shirt, preventing him from moving further away, and as the woman´s body arches towards him, her eyes still closed, a deeper, husky moan escapes her lips, effectively awakening a very sensitive part of him, as he can see dangerously approaching rosy lips, parting just slightly. In desperation, sensing his own responses, he closes his eyes tightly, and scrunches his lips, his face and neck burning from a deep flush, and as he feels her heat closing the distance, he manages to finally whisper to the only person who could help him now.

"S-Serah…"

But the younger pinkette cannot answer him, and even less come to his rescue, as she´s rooted to her spot after hearing her sister´s moan, the obvious sound rendering her absolutely speechless, all of her actions stalled, as two forces struggle inside of her: one, fear for her sister, because she knows of the utter shame and horror that would strike Lightning down as soon as she realizes what she´s doing; and two, the absolute hilarity of it all, especially since the eldest Farron is never the type of showing off her feelings, even less her desire. Obviously, Serah doesn´t know her sister as well as she´d thought.

But the sound of her baby sister´s name has seemed to do the trick, registering it in Lightning´s mind. Azure orbs open up in a snap, at first confused, but as they focus, the stubborn soldier notices the very close male face, eyes tightly shut and a frown in his burrow, a deep blush all over his face, ears and neck, and who´s obviously holding his breath.

"N-Noel…?"

Valiantly, he ventures and opens an eye, merely inches away from the azure orbs.

"Y-yes Lightning…?"

At realizing her close, intimate position, Lightning pushes the young man hard and away from her, making him crash onto the floor, as she takes a sheet from her bed to cover her body.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"Well… I…"

"W-we came to check on you, Sis," Serah immediately intervenes in favor of the young man, whose brain seems too melted to think properly, "I´m sorry we woke you up!"

"You allowed a man inside _my_ bedroom?" Lightning counters against her sister, her incredulity and rage obvious on her countenance.

Azure eyes open wide in terror. "N-No! No Sis I…"

"No, no Lightning!" Noel finally tries to defend himself and the younger Farron, since it seems the eldest sibling is thinking of ways to commit sister-cide. "I didn´t enter your bedroom… I mean, not before I found you. It was Serah the one who entered, all alone! I just found you on the bathroom, o-outside your bedroom! You had passed out on the bath and I… took you in… my… arms…" For an odd reason, the last sentence makes Noel blush even harder than before, his heartbeat quickening at the memory of warm, ivory skin over his flesh.

Lightning seems to catch up on his thoughts, as she blushes just like him, countenance that of utter outrage, but tries to recover from the obvious embarrassment. She holds her breath and tries to calm herself, as the memories of her urgent rush towards the bathroom, and the emptying of her stomach, are the final images she can recollect immediately before this… misunderstanding.

_But then… what happened? _

As she looks at Noel, a questioning look on her countenance, her mind catches up to her and she´s finally able to remember also the images right _before _her awakening, born from a very vivid dream, and her azure eyes open wide in understanding and embarrassment.

She recalls male scent, strong, large, experienced hands all over her skin. The image of a hard body melting with hers sends shivers down her spine, as she recalls her sight in the dream covered in blond locks. She inhales deeply again, controlling her temper and struggling to avoid a deeper blush igniting her body… a blush that has nothing to do with shame.

"Ehem, well… alright then, thank you for helping me out, Noel…" She speaks with poise and seriousness, avoiding Noel´s and Serah´s eyes, as the two youngsters interchange looks.

Not noticing the woman´s embarrassment, Noel smiles slightly at seeing Lightning controlled, finally deciding it´s safe to rise up from the floor. Serah exhales the breath she had been holding too, and nods at her friend. But after a second, Lightning seems to realize to whom she´s talking to, and her azure eyes open wide in surprise and glee.

"Oh Goddess Noel! You came back!" Her burst makes the youngsters jump up slightly, as Lightning is barely able to hold her wish to rush towards him, so happy she feels to see her friend in one piece. Instead, she extends her free arm towards the young man, prompting him to approach, as she stands on her knees over the bed, holding the sheet in place with her other hand.

At first, Noel doubts a moment, but after watching the calmer light orbs, he smiles and walks towards the bedside, and envelops the slender frame with his arms, hesitantly at first, as Lightning holds him tightly as well, pushing aside the intruding images from her dream. He´s her trusted friend, and they´ve been through so much together ever since they first met, that their bond has grown stronger, so much that sometimes Lightning feels as if Noel is the brother she wishes she ever had. The brother she feels Serah needed. There is no way that Noel would do something to desecrate her, she knows she can trust him.

"I´m so glad you´re back to us, Noel." Lightning whispers as she surrounds his neck with her arms, a warmth spreading on her chest. "Serah and I have missed you."

"I´ve missed you too, Lightning. It´s good to be back home." He finally lets himself relax on her arms, now confident that there won´t be no more misunderstandings.

"Awww… you´re both so cute!" Serah stands a few feet away from them, giving them space, but relishing on the shared embrace. She´s seen Lightning being tender and caring before, but only with her. Watching her sister being so open with someone else, is certainly a sight to behold.

At hearing her voice, both Lightning and Noel come apart just inches from each other, looking straight at the youngest Farron, as Noel extends an arm towards her, inviting her in.

"Don´t worry, Serah, we have hugs for you too!" He beams at her, and she rushes towards them.

But Lightning disentangles herself from the young man, feeling now uncomfortable for all the touching and hugging, her body still utterly sensitive over her last dream.

"Sorry Serah, I´ve got a reputation to keep." She smiles slightly as Serah pouts at her, her movement stalled.

"Oh, Sis! You´re so mean!"

Lightning chuckles a bit at seeing her sister´s face of disappointment, though she can´t avoid the slight pang of guilt, so she chooses to change the subject, a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Don´t you have a breakfast to cook? I´m sure there are already people at the table."

"Oh dear Goddess! The breakfast!" The youngest sibling jumps at remembering her unfinished task, and runs towards the door with horror in her countenance. "C´mon Noel! You have to help me!" Serah rushes towards the door, pushing the young man in front of her.

"M-me?" a mask of horror, matching the pinkette´s, is drawn on Noel´s face. "I don´t even know how to turn on a fire!"

"Oh, don´t give me that… lie!" Serah fires back, still pushing him. "You´re a well renown hunter, _obviously_ you know how to cook!"

"B-but…"

He makes the mistake of meeting her eyes, as Serah´s glare imitates her sister´s so perfectly, that Noel feels goosebumps.

"Ok, ok! I´ll help! But be careful! You´re gonna hurt me!" Defeated, he chuckles slightly, trying to hide his discomfort, as he unwillingly obeys the young woman. "We´ll be waiting for you out here, Lightning!"

Lightning chuckles and nods, as she can barely hear Noel´s words of protest outside her bedroom.

But as the soldier slowly sits on the end of her bed, still confused and somewhat concerned over the sensations running through her body, Serah returns to her sister, throwing herself on top of Lightning, as her arms envelop her sibling´s neck. Taken by surprise, they both fall into the bed, Lightning´s air leaving her lungs.

"Uff! Serah! You´ll hurt the baby!"

The tough soldier looks down towards her sister, and surprise is drawn on her face as she sees her beaming.

"What?"

"You´re making me so happy, Light. You´ll finally share with Snow the news of his nephew! Thank you so much for letting him in. He´ll be an awesome uncle, I promise you that."

Lightning rolls her eyes. "Tch. You´re making a big deal about this, Serah. I don´t think he´ll be half as happy as you are."

Serah straightens, looking down intently at her sister, seriousness in her countenance, and, Lightning ventures, a little bit of anger embedded in the mixture.

"You´re wrong. Snow has always dreamed of a family of his own. That´s why he created the NORA group. He´s even been thinking of us having a baby…"

"Ugh! Serah! I really don´t want to know about that stuff!" Lightning protests as she struggles against her mind, trying to protect herself from disturbing images that come with Serah´s words. The youngest pinkette chastises her sister.

"Oh, please Light! Don´t be such a baby! I really don´t think you´re so naïve as to think we´re not doing it!"

"That does it! I´m out of here!" Lightning tries to push the pinkette away, but Serah grunts and pushes down, preventing her sister to move any further.

"Ok, ok, I´ll change the subject! I´m just saying that Snow would be very happy to know of your condition, I´m sure of it. You should´ve seen him getting all sad and flustered when I told him I wanted to wait a bit more."

Lightning is about to protest, but the last words make her feel too proud to ignore.

"I always thought you were smarter than you looked."

"Hey!"

As Serah pouts, Lightning just chuckles.

"Well, the point is," Serah continues, "we had an argument about having a baby, he´s just dying to see tiny feet running around the house. Knowing of your pregnancy will definitely make him happy. You know he thinks very highly of you."

Lightning nods slowly. "Well, I´m glad I´m making you happy by telling the big oaf about the baby."

Lightning awaits for another angry retort from her sister, but instead, she notices how Serah´s eyes change noticeably, becoming somewhat thoughtful. The soldier doesn´t know why, but a shiver runs down her spine. Half a minute passes by with the two siblings in silence, each trying to read the mind of the other, until is Serah the first one to break the silence.

"Light… Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Serah. You know you can ask me anything. The thing is, I might not answer." Serah pretends to ready another hit, as Lightning covers, chuckling, but then the youngest Farron becomes serious again.

"The thing is, you´ve been so… distant to me, lately. Is there something you wanna talk to me about?"

Lightning, frowns. She has never grown accustomed to Serah´s ability to see through her mask.

"No, there isn´t. I´m ok." She flinches, realizing how harsh her answer must´ve sounded. But she truly can´t help it. The soldier knows how hard it is to hide things from her sister, so it´s unavoidable for her to be on guard whenever Serah gets in detective mode.

Serah recognizes the eldest Farron´s intent of pushing her away, thus dismisses the rough tune. Not deterred at all, the young woman places her ear over her sister´s chest, as if she were the one looking for comfort.

"You know you can always talk to me, right? You can tell me anything, Claire. I want it to be just like old times."

Oh, the low blow.

Lightning sighs and allows her head to rest on the pillow, feeling defeated and disarmed at her baby sister´s words.

"Ok. You´re right, nothing should get between us. Not anymore." Serah raises her eyes towards her sister, hopeful, as azure orbs bore determinedly into them, and Serah is able to witness how Lightning lets go of her fears. "I promise I´ll tell you what´s on my mind. But not today. Please be patient, I… there´s still a lot of things fussy on my head, a lot to understand and assimilate. I need to clear that out by myself first. Besides, today we have guests to receive, right?"

"But, do you promise we´ll talk sometime soon?"

"Yeah, Sis. I promise."

Serah´s smile illuminates the entire room, as she straightens, looking intently at her sister. "Lightning… You never call me 'Sis'."

Lightning sits on the edge of the bed, following her sibling´s movement. "Well, you´re my sister, right? As much as I´m yours. I think I have the right to call you any way I like, and that includes the ridiculous 'Sis'."

If possible, Serah´s smile broadens. "I´d like that." The simple gesture of being addressed as such, means a lot to the youngest sibling, making her feel as if a barrier between them she hadn´t noticed before, has just lifted.

"Ok then, it´s a deal." Lightning claps her hands, ending the conversation, as a wide smile is drawn on her face too. "Now go finish that famous breakfast of yours, and let me get ready for the big day today."

"Al right, Sis!"

Still smiling, Lightning´s eyes follow the young woman´s retreating figure, as she storms out of the room, and the soldier sighs, pleased with herself. It feels so good to know that, in spite of all they both have been through, Serah´s soul still seems pure and pristine.

_She´s always been the best of us both. Such an amazing auntie you´ll have._

The last thought catches her off guard, and before she can´t help it, she looks down, staring at the small lump on her belly that´s starting to show through her nightgown. Hesitantly at first, Lightning places her palm over the hard curve on her abdomen, the gesture feeling still foreign on her. But after a moment, the awkwardness settles down, and a soothing sensation seems to come into her palms, and spread throughout her entire being. In spite of herself, Lightning smiles again, though this time comes from the deepest part of her core.

_She´s your auntie…_

Lightning sighs and allows her body to fall over the bed once again, a palm still over her belly, as she lets the mood sink in. The soldier hopes that, sometime in the future, she´ll be able to gather the courage needed to tell her sister, face to face, how proud she is of her.

OOOOoooooooooXIIIooooo

It´s already past 9 o´clock in the morning, the sun shinning hot and renewed upon New Bodhum´s beautiful beach. Serah smiles widely, happy and proud, at watching her friends and family gathered together around a large, rather long table. She had wanted them all to be inside the house, but she hadn't noticed before how numerous her family of three had become (or was it four? Or six?), so Snow had to improvise a breakfast table in the backyard, since there were far too many people trying to fit in the small house.

Her azure eyes, fixed on the rowdy crowd, travel from one friend to the other, until they focus on a specific group. Serah´s chest feels overwhelmed with joy, watching Noel smiling at Hope as they interchange jokes. She is indeed so happy to see her friend coming back home, and even more so to know Lightning shares her happiness.

Noel is talking and laughing, probably telling the teen about his latest adventures, as the silver haired teen eagerly seems to devour everything the young man is saying. It´s funny to think that, although they were very good friends on the alternate timeline, where Hope was older, neither Serah nor Lightning had expected this young Hope would grow attached to Noel too, and, maybe, even more so than the older version of him.

Dr. Bartholomew Estheim is there also, listening intently to Noel, whom he seems to be taking under his wing, as if the young man were a second son. By the way he seems to be enjoying the conversation, it´s obvious that both Estheims are happy to receive Noel in their family of two, not only Hope.

There´s Sazh too, sitting right next to them, with little Dajh over his lap, who is listening, completely absorbed, to the tales of the trips and adventures Noel is sharing with them all, big brown eyes sparking in delight. By the look the little boy is giving Noel, Serah is sure Dajh is looking up to the young man. She´s sure Noel is up to the challenge, though, and Sazh´s relaxed and aloof attitude seem to confirm her thoughts. She knows the tough daddy would never allow the little kid to be around a man he doesn´t trust, even less to look up to him.

Next to the group of men, there´s the NORA team, which recently has seen a change in their interaction: though Snow remains the indisputable leader, Lebreau and Gadot have finally accepted and acted upon their feelings, and, for many months after the fall of Cocoon, they´ve been a couple. A rather 'touchy' couple, Serah ponders as an afterthought, as she sees her two friends cuddling with one another and sharing small kisses. Much to Yuuj and Maki´s annoyance, whose faces of disgust and disbelief make her giggle.

A body crashes over the youngest Farron, interrupting her thoughts and almost making her fall, and she´s just barely able to hold her ground.

"Hey Serah! We´re here!"

And, of course, there´re her Pulsian friends.

Fang and Vanille, as usual, make a flamboyant entrance. Vanille has her arms already around Serah´s shoulders, and the pinkette giggles, happy to have the chirpy Pulsian around. She remembers how they got along well the few minutes they met on Bodhum. Now that they´re together in New Bodhum, being part of the same family, their bond has grown stronger. Almost like Lightning´s and Fang´s, actually, the latest looking around the garden, obviously searching for the eldest Farron.

"You won´t find her here, Fang. She´s still getting ready."

"Still?" The tall Gran Pulsian growls. "How long does it take for a Farron to get ready?"

"It can take _hours_, Fang, so get used to it." A booming voice interrupts the woman, making Serah´s head turn around in fast motion, looking for the source.

And, last but not least important, there´s her goofy and handsome boyfriend, who receives a hit in the ribs for his cheeky retort, alongside a good morning kiss.

"Very funny, Snow."

"_And_, some people say, very handsome too." He winks at her, finishing his sentence with a peck on her lips. She rolls her eyes but giggles at him, wondering since when did he learn to read her mind.

"Oh please!" Fang protests, making a disgusting face. "Get a room, you two!"

"Say that again and I´ll break you an arm." The husky, though angered voice, makes everyone turn to look at the house. Fang´s grin grows wider at seeing Lightning´s body framed at the entrance door, and notices that, though she still wears a sickening pale hue on her skin, she does seem to be in better shape than the previous days.

"Honey, I´d love to see you trying."

A delicate eyebrow rises, and Lightning is about to retaliate, when another voice interrupts their bickering.

"About time I got to see your angry pretty face, soldier girl!"

The addressed soldier turns to find the owner of the voice, and her face illuminates at the sight of the pilot.

"Oh! Sazh!"

Lightning´s smile is wide, wider than the pilot has ever seen on her face before, but something else about her glues him on his spot. The way her eyes shine, her full, pink lips frame her mouth, how her eyelashes seem to flutter faster, the skin on her face and neck shining, as if she had just come out of the bath, even though her hair is completely dry… Yes, there´s something definitely different about her, something that makes Sazh want to rub his eyes out of disbelief. As Lightning walks down the stairs to greet him, he can notice the strawberry locks looking soft, with a silk-like appearance, willowing softly in the morning wind, and, even from a distance, the tall, dark-skinned man can almost smell something on her hair… something sweet and fresh…

Sazh barely notices she´s given many steps towards him, as he sees her frame irradiating a light on its own, as if she were a candle that illuminates the rest of the world. As if a new source of energy were forming deep inside of her, irradiating through every pore of her body, of her skin. As if, through her eyes, he could see an eternity of hope and love coming into life.

In other words, he has never seen Lightning as beautiful as she is now.

"Oh my Goddess, Lightning… are you…?" He barely whispers, but never gets to finish the thought, as a small and dark cannonball rushes past him, almost crashing on the woman, who is barely able to avoid the full impact on her body, as she kneels and receives it on her chest.

"Auntie Light! You´re here!" Dajh envelops the woman´s neck with his small arms, as Lightning returns the embrace, for the first time taking pleasure of the feeling of the tiny frame tightly guarded in her arms. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Dajh, you and your dad were away for too long."

"Yeah, but we had so much fun!" The little boy beams at her widely, his eyes sparkling with joy and awe at the possibility of sharing his own adventures. "We saw so many awesome animals! And I even got to touch some! Daddy said I was very brave!"

"I´m glad you had so much fun, Dajh." Lightning smiles at his energetic antics, ruffling the child´s dark hair. "But you´ll tell me later all about it, ok? There´s something I need to do first." She picks him up from the floor and gives him to his father´s awaiting arms, giving the man a welcome hug but avoiding eye contact, blatantly ignoring Sazh´s open mouth, in the middle of a question, only mouthing him an 'I'll tell you later' on her way towards the rest of the group.

Lightning nears the table, and addresses everybody, as the small chit-chat dies out with her arrival, an atmosphere of ceremoniousness falling in the garden.

_Well… here goes nothing. _Lightning inhales, as she starts her speech.

"Thank you so much all of you for coming today to visit us in this early hour." She starts, her mouth dry for having to step and talk in front of everybody. She speaks softly, though loud and firm, her sight traveling from one set of eyes to the next. "We, Serah and I, know how hard it is for some of you to be here on time" she gives the eye to the NORA team, who only smile at her, some of them having the decency to look sheepish, "and I´m sorry for keeping you waiting, I´ll try to be brief so that we can have our breakfast. There are two announcements I want to make.

"The first announcement is something I´m sure you already know: the ex-PSICOM army has knocked on the doors of our home, so we have to come together, in order to protect our homeland. The Commander of New Bodhum Guardian Corps, Captain Amodar, already has a plan and a proposal. And I´d love to have your cooperation on it."

As almost every head nods and whispers at Lightning´s words, Serah rolls her eyes. Typical of Lightning, straight to business, personal topic comes as a last comment. Work always is the main subject. She knows her sister is stalling the most important news on purpose, so the youngest sibling takes the matter in her hands and steps forward, standing in front of her sister, before she can utter another word.

"I´m sure we´ve all heard those news, but what Lightning is _really_ dying to tell you, is something even _more _important, something that would make you all the happiest, and if she doesn´t disclosure it _now_," she turns to glare pointedly at her sister, as the addressed pinkette glares back, murder intent in her eyes, though it seems to have little to no effect on the younger one, "I swear to Etro _I will_ _be_ the one to say it. _My way._" Without losing eye contact, two pairs of azure eyes glare defiantly at each other until, after a brief moment of silence, Serah barely holds a giggle of triumph, as she notices her sister gulping almost unnoticeably.

She´s well aware that Lightning _knows_ she´s not joking. The youngest Farron feels confident of her success.

Everyone remains silent, as the two Farron siblings battle against each other, no words uttered, though Fang, Snow and Vanille already know the result, each of their smirks letting it show.

"Tch…" A minute passes by, and Lightning closes her eyes and clears her throat, the obvious sign of defeat, as Serah suppresses a yelp of triumph. She knows Lightning is promising, in her head, a world of pain for her sister. But she also knows that they´re nothing more than words.

"Fine then. If you all must know." The stubborn soldier looks up and fixes her eyes upon Serah once more, with a look that so much resembles the most threatening glare she has in her repertory, but the younger pinkette knows better. Lightning´s eyes are locked with hers in search for support and strength.

The sight of the Farron´s intertwined as such, Lightning inhales and exhales, finding strength in her sister´s smile.

"I wanted to share with you, my family, the news I have received for a month now: I´m pregnant."

And then, there´s silence.

For a full minute, nobody moves nor speaks, some waiting for the other´s response, some unable to understand the meaning of the words, some simply speechless.

Sazh, having his suspicions confirmed, is about to speak his mind, but somebody beats him to it.

"I _knew_ it! I knew you were pregnant too!" It´s Lebreau the one to yell as she stands up in a rush, throwing her chair backwards, pointing an all-too-happy finger towards the eldest pinkette.

Everybody turns at her, as Lightning just glares.

"That´s impossible, Lebreau! There´s no way you could´ve known before, what do you… wait, _what did you just say?"_

Lebreau is clapping now, all too happy to have guessed. "I knew you were pregnant too! You were showing all the signs!"

"Yes, yes, I got that all right." Lightning dismisses her joyous words with a gesture. "But what do you mean by 'too'? Who else is pregnant?"

"Well, me of course! Didn´t Snow tell you?"

After a couple of seconds of shock, Lightning glares at the blond man, whose eyes are fixed on her belly, looking as if he were waiting for the baby to pop out of her stomach at any minute. Without a warning, he swats him on the head.

"Hey!"

"Why didn´t you tell me Lebreau was pregnant?"

"Why didn´t _you _tell me _you _were pregnant? I´m gonna be an uncle and I didn´t know!"

"Hey! You were _already_ going to be an uncle with my baby! What´s the difference?" Lebreau protests, but Lightning and Snow blatantly ignore her, already too fixed on each other.

"You wouldn´t understand, Snow."

"What do you mean by that?" he looks at her, hurt in his blue eyes. "You know you can trust me, Light. Since when have you known of your condition?"

"That´s…!"

"Oi! Wait everyone!" Maki intervenes, for the first time being able to break an argument that involves either Lebreau, Lightning or even Snow. "Before you two kick Snow´s ass, I would love to know who´s the father of Lightning´s child! I mean, who was brave enough to impregnate her? Ouch!" Lightning throws a plate at him, her aiming perfect.

"That´s none of your business!"

"But wait, Lightning! I would love to know too!" It´s Snow the one to come to Maki´s help, as he stands up from his seat to challenge the eldest Farron and, for an odd reason, not noticing how he´s pushing his luck way too much.

"Snow!" Serah takes him by the hand, pulling him down and trying, without success, to stop him from angering her sister even more, but he just turns to meet her eyes for a brief second, only to meet Lightning´s again, defiance in his countenance.

"It´s not important Snow." She glares at him again, seething now in rage.

"What do you mean it´s not important? Of course the father _is _important!" he finally spats at her, stomping his enormous hands on the table, leaving everybody surprised, even Serah is speechless at his behavior. "Or what do you think Gadot feels about his baby coming? Or how Sazh would´ve felt if his wife hadn´t told him about Dajh? Or that Nora had dismissed Mr. Estheim as 'not important'? What makes you think a baby is not important for the father?"

Although the addressed men were trying to be set apart from the fighting, Snow´s questioning hits a sensitive core, and now everyone stares at Lightning, Hope the most interested of them all, eager to prove his theory of his elder self being the father of her child.

Lightning hates to be the center of attention, and she blushes furiously, but the intensity of Snow´s stare, and the hopeful stares of the rest of the guests that bore into her, prevent her from doing anything she would regret. Like killing Snow. As silence stretches out, there seems to be no way out, but she doesn´t feel ready to disclose such information. It hits too close to her heart. It still aches too much. And it´s something they wouldn´t understand. As Lightning is about to yell at him and storm away from the place, her eyes find her sister´s, a plea in them, a look that reminds her of a time she would´ve done anything for her baby sister. Or almost anything.

"That´s not your call, Snow." She whispers her words, seething in anger, but quelling her temper as much as she can. At the moment, controlling her rage is the only thing she can do for Serah. That, and forgiving Snow.

When Lightning gives two steps away from the table, the tall blond grasps her arm, preventing her from moving further.

"No Lightning, please wait."

"Hey, you! Stop harassing my girl!" Fang´s yell startles everyone, including Lightning, as the tall Pulsian steps in front of her, pushing Snow down to his seat, and forcing him to release the soldier, as green eyes glare threatingly at him, and then at everybody. "She´ll say it whenever she wants to and to whom she wants to! What right do you have to ask her such thing, Snow? Are _you_ the father?"

"O-of course not, Fang! You know I wouldn´t…!" He turns to look eagerly and pleadingly at Serah, horrified at her possible response, but Fang slaps his head.

"Oh, shush it Snow! As if you were that lucky! Or what about you, Maki? Do you feel man enough to be the father of Lightning´s baby?"

The young man blushes deep red and then purplish, as he falls speechless and terrified at being confronted in such way.

"I thought you wouldn´t. So if anyone here feels with the right to ask Lightning for the fatherhood of her child, step forward, because it would mean he _feels_ he could be the father. In this situation, only Lightning and the father have the right to speak up."

Fang looks defiantly at the rest of her peers, as everyone remains silent. Serah and Vanille interchange looks, trying their hardest not to stare at Hope, who fidgets in his seat, and whose hands are burning to rise up in protest, but the teen feels too self conscious to try and speak his heart.

"Well, as your silence speaks volumes, logic tells us that the father _isn´t_ among the present men, right? So, that said, would it be too much to ask of you to give the soon-to-be-mommy a big hug of congratulations?"

_Emh… hugs?_

Lightning´s delicate eyebrow raises, as her hypersensitive skin prickles at the idea of Noel´s body closer to her… again. But it isn´t Noel the one she should be worried about, since it´s Gadot the first one to hug her tightly, his bare torso hard against her soft flesh, as he crushes her in a tight bear hug.

"Congratulations, Lightning! I´m so happy our babies will grow together!"

The soldier is barely able to breathe at Gadot´s overwhelming strength, as she does her best effort to ignore the way her sensitive nipples harden, a response to the friction against the man´s naked flesh. "Please Gadot… would you _mind?"_

"Oh, yes! Sorry Light."

He lets go of her, as she restrains rolling her eyes. She´s much too relieved, to feel actually angry with the NORA member.

As Maki steps forward, with an 'I´m sorry' sign plastered over his face, Lightning steals a glance towards Fang, so the tall woman steps forward too, becoming the third person to hug the proud soldier.

"Thank you for rescuing me there, Fang. The situation had become really awkward. I really don´t know how much longer I would´ve resisted the urge to kill Snow."

The tall Pulsian smirks, and playfully bows at her. "Always a pleasure to be of help, Sunshine. You know something? I might not be your knight in shinning armor, but I can still be there for you, right?"

"As you´ve always been." Lightning beams at her, earning a wide smile in return.

As Fang steps aside, Snow´s form towers over the pinkette, and this time Lightning readies a good kick, but then he notices blue eyes looking saddened.

"I´m really sorry, Lightning, I… I don´t know what came over me..." He places his hand at the back of his neck, as he refuses to look at her eyes, feeling ashamed. His stance remembers Lightning of the broken Snow she once witnessed in the Arc, and knows he really means his words.

"It´s ok, Snow. You might not know why you said those things, but I do know."

"Really?" He looks into azure eyes, hopeful, only to witness a devilish smirk drawn on pink lips.

"Yes. It was because you´re an ass."

At first, the words strike him, but then he notices the smirk and he chuckles, the tension effectively released.

"Well, I guess I deserve it. So, Sis, care to give me a hug?" He opens his arms wide in invitation, a toothy grin plastered over his face.

Lightning smiles, and is about to give the step forward, when his frame and his features register in her brain, creating a flashback that hits her retinas, as if an intrusive deja vu had invaded her, and in that moment her vision is enveloped with fussy, but recognizable images: blonde hair, waving with the wind; blue-violet eyes piercing into hers; strong, large, warm hands closing into her; and large, hard shoulders that would envelop her whole in an embrace… for a split second, she can feel her body being pulled by the vision of the muscular chest, her own skin vibrating, resonating in response to the masculine call. She can almost smell this man´s flesh… she can almost _feel him_ inside…

"Light?"

Lightning blinks, and the power of the vision fades away, leaving only a faint blush on her cheeks, and she notices Snow is still waiting for her hug.

"Err… maybe some other time, Snow."

"B-but… Lightning…"

If she hadn´t felt so awkward at the moment, she would´ve chuckled to see a grown man pouting in such way. Fortunately for her, Lebreau steps forward and punches her soon-to-be-brother-in-law on his abdomen, forcing him to close his arms.

"Don´t push it, Snow. You should be happy she doesn´t kill you." As the tall man doubles over, she only smirks and hugs Lightning tightly, beaming like mad. "Congratulations, Lightning. Just like Gadot said, I´m very happy our kids will grow together."

"I´m happy too, Lebreau. And thanks for the help."

The woman dismisses the words with a wave of her hand. "No problem, darling. Girls gotta stick together, right?"

As everyone gets closer to Lightning, each one ready to give her a hug, at the farthest end of the line, Dajh stands complete still, big brown eyes looking interested at the scene.

"Daddy, why´s everybody hugging auntie Light? Is it her birthday?"

Sazh chuckles at his son´s innocence.

"No, Dajh. Your auntie is carrying a tiny little baby in her belly, you know? She´s going to become a mommy."

"A baby in her belly?" Dahj´s face scrunches at his father´s words, thoughtful, as he scratches his head, and, after a few moments of obvious struggling with the meaning, he finally turns towards his father, as they both wait for their turn to congratulate the happy mother. "Why is the baby in her belly, daddy? Did auntie Light eat it on her sandwich?"

This time Sazh is unable to contain his laughter.

"No, no, little one, nothing of that kind. I´ll explain it to you later. Meanwhile, you should give her a big hug and a kiss."

"Why?"

"Because anyone would be happy to have a baby."

"Like you were happy when I was born?"

"Yeah, Dajh. Exactly like that."

No more words needed, the little boy beams at his father and runs towards Lightning once more, getting to her a second before Yuuj is able to congratulate her. This time the little one takes her by surprise, and holds her waist tightly, as his face rubs against her belly.

"I´m so happy you´re having a baby, auntie Light. I promise you I will love him very much."

Lightning kneels and gives him a kiss on the head. "Thank you, Dajh. Your words mean the world to me."

"Do I get to have one of those?" It´s daddy Katzroy the one speaking, and Lightning stands up to face him.

"Nope, sorry. You´re not that pretty."

The pilot chuckles at her response. "Well, in that case, what if I give you my word that I was as pretty as that when I was Dajh´s age?"

Before Lightning can answer, Dajh interrupts his father´s plea. "I don´t think so, Daddy. Mommy used to say that I´m the prettiest boy in the whole world."

They laugh at him, and Sazh extends his arms, inviting the pinkette in. Lightning doesn´t even think it twice, and throws herself at him. Enveloped by the man´s firm and warm hug, she´s awed at the soothing feeling that flows into her, how her body fits so perfectly in Sazh´s arms.

_He surely knows how to be a father._ She thinks, as a sigh escapes her lips.

"Congratulations, soldier girl. You have no idea what you´ve gotten yourself into."

Without breaking the embrace, she looks up at him, meeting dark eyes.

"Is it really that bad, uh?"

"No. It´s that awesome."

oooooOOOOOOOOOXIIIOOOOoooooo

A/N:

I don´t own Final Fantasy nor its characters. I write this only for fun.

Wow! It´s finally over! I think this is the longest chapter I´ve written, like, ever! I know Lightning might seem a little bit too OOC, but as I´ve said, Lightning is a very complex character, her personality has so many layers, that it´s actually hard to describe her (she´s quite sensitive in XIII-2, especially if you get to see Requiem of the Goddess DLC).

And finally clues for the daddy! Though I´m almost sure some of you will already know the name of the father, by know. I´m really not good with clues!

On another note, I know many of you might think I overreacted about Lightning´s appearance, when she steps in front of Sazh for the first time, but believe me, if you do pay attention, and I mean, look intently at them, when a woman you care about (either a sister, a very dear friend, etc.) is pregnant, they do carry an aura of beauty and happiness, one that it´s hard to describe. I´ve noticed that, most experienced moms, have actually the ability to tell when a woman is pregnant, just by the way they seem to shine. The smile, the eyes, the way they move, is absolutely different. It´s as if they were carrying the most beautiful secret of the universe. Maybe they are. I´ve felt it myself, and witnessed it with my dearest friends, and wanted to share it in here. Even though Sazh is not a mom, I´ve envisioned him to be an awesome dad, and maybe a sensitive one, enough to notice those changes in Lightning. Hope you got the idea. And really hope you liked the chapter! Thank you all so much for your amazing reviews! Your words keep me going!


	8. Chapter 8

Arms Wide Open

Chapter 8

The sun is falling over the sea, the breeze becoming comfortably chilly as a result, scaring off the overwhelming heat that envelops each day on Gran Pulse´s summer time. The small, warm house, is falling in semidarkness and into a soft silence, as all of the NORA members, and some of the ex-l´Cie, are outside on the beach, either having fun or finishing tasks. Or with some other interesting activities. Like cuddling.

But not the Farron sisters.

Today, Serah has refused to accompany Snow to his afternoon swimming, and instead, has decided to spend some quality time with her sister, accompanying her to the ultrasound appointment she had, and eating dinner together on Lebreau´s newly opened bar. This time, she didn´t even join the NORA team on their usual Friday dart contest. No. Serah had decided it was going to be a Farron´s day, therefore, she would be accompanying Lightning all day long. That´s why, while everyone else is having fun outside, both siblings are indoors, lying on Lightning´s bed, Serah´s head resting over Light´s shoulder, while her smaller hand softly strikes the swollen belly, two pairs of light blue eyes staring at it, expectation and awe drawn on each of their faces, both of them enjoying this time of silence and togetherness, each knowing these few peaceful moments are the precedent of storms to come. Dark days are on their way, and they both know it, but both try to be stronger for the other.

Out of nothing, the youngest pinkette yelps, a bright smile finding its way on her lips.

"Oh Goddess! He moved! I finally felt him! Oh Light…! Did you feel him too?"

Lightning nods and chuckles at Serah´s raw and childish emotion, as she herself feels shaken at the odd sensation of having her stomach churning and turning from the inside. She can feel the little feet moving, kicking, _hurting_ her ribs. But it´s a pain she´s more than willing to accept.

Feeling elated, Serah hums lightly and rubs the exposed skin of Lightning´s belly, and yelps once more as she feels another sudden bump in response. "Oh Sis! He moved again! He´s actually answering me!"

Lightning chuckles softly. "The baby knows you´re his auntie, of course he´ll answer you."

Serah´s bright smile warms the soldier´s chest, as the youngest Farron leans closer to her abdomen, happily speaking to it.

"Yes, baby, I´m your auntie. And I´ll hug you, take care of you, love you and buy you so many candies, your mommy will hate me for giving you caries."

"Hey!"

"And nothing will protect you from me spoiling you."

Lightning warningly raises an eyebrow at her baby sister, but Serah only beams at her and returns to her tender ministrations. The eldest Farron rolls her eyes and chuckles, defeated, as her hand finds its way over pink locks, caressing her sister´s silken hair, and old gesture of hers, as the younger woman leans down and rests her head on the prominent abdomen, smiling, another kick being the only protest.

"Thank you for letting me accompany you on your appointment with Falcon." Without moving from her comfy spot, Serah interrupts the comfortable silence they had fallen into. "It was awesome to see the baby again."

"You don´t have to thank me, Serah. Of course you had to come, you´re my sister, and the baby´s godmother, whom else could I invite?"

Serah finally rises from her warm and living pillow, and glares at the soldier, but before she can utter a single word, Lightning chastises her with a finger pointed in denial.

"Don´t even start. It´s hard enough for me to accept Snow as the godfather."

"You _know _he´ll be an awesome godfather, and that he´ll love the baby as much as I will!" Serah protests, and Lightning actually agrees, but its not like she´ll accept it in front of her baby sister. Trying to avoid the imminent disagreement (one they´ve been through over and over), she decides to change the subject and focus on prettier thoughts, knowing that Serah will tag along.

"Wasn´t it incredible to see the baby so grown? I still can´t believe a human being with all his body parts already formed, could live inside of me! It´s really something hard to swallow." The last sentence is said almost in a whisper, almost with reverence. It has surprised the soldier the way her strategy actually fills her heart with warmth and glee. The idea of distracting her sister backfires, and the eldest Farron smiles, gladly receiving the impact.

Serah knows it´s just a diversion, but she cheerfully falls for it, as she caresses the rounded belly, allowing Lightning to see the blue eyes glimmering in delight at having the opportunity to recall the images she bared witness.

"It was _amazing_ Light! To get to see his hands and little feet, moving all around, his heartbeat running so fast! And oh Goddess his _face_! He looked really handsome!" She´s close to yelping, and Lightning chuckles again. "We even got to see his _sex!_"

Lightning can barely restrain her sister´s glee, though she tries. "Well, I don´t know, Falcon did say the technician wasn´t sure it had been his tender parts, the umbilical cord was far too close and…"

"Oh, don´t be like that, Sis!" Serah disregards the words with a wave of her hand. "I´m sure it´s going to be a boy! A beautiful boy! I´m sure of it! I dreamed of him the other night!" The youngest Farron yelps this time, but suddenly grows serious. "I wonder… to whom will he look like? You think he´ll take after dad?"

Her words are like a direct hit on the gut, and Lightning can´t help feeling sad and angry at the same time. The stubborn soldier stands up from the bed, softly but firmly pushing her sibling aside.

"What…?" Serah is put out by her actions, but knows it could be hormones… or Lightning just being herself. "Did I say something wrong?"

Lightning stands close to the window, looking at the dying sun, as her mind wanders. Serah respects the moment of silence, but stands close by, awaiting her sister´s moment of opening. It didn´t take too long.

"Can I confess you something… without you fretting?" A tilt of the head, without turning to look at her. Serah frowns. The faint movement, and the odd hesitation, warns her about the seriousness of the moment.

"Of course, Claire. You know you can count on me."

The given name has always found a way to soothe the stubborn soldier somehow, and Serah can witness how Lightning´s shoulders relax, if only a tad. But a minute still passes by before she actually opens up.

"You know I´ll love him with all my heart, but I… sort of had hopped… the baby would be a girl." Without knowing why, Lightning feels a sting of shame that ignites a heat in her cheeks.

It´s so unusual to hear hesitation in her sister´s voice, and though Serah can´t believe her ears, she still waits for Lightning to finish. She knows she´s not done. After half a minute of hesitation, the eldest sibling finally turns to meet eyes so like hers.

"I had hoped she would look like mom…"

"Oh, Light…" Serah´s eyes sadden at the blunt confession, understanding and even sharing her sister´s mourning and painful wish, and rests her head over Lightning´s shoulder, intertwining their fingers, completely at a loss of words. Lightning smiles at the faint but firm gesture of support, and she lets the silence expand. Their connection is such that, even through silence, they communicate immensely.

But not wanting to let the dark mood sink in, after a moment Lightning follows the train of thought. "The problem is, if it´s a boy, most probably he´ll take after _his_ father instead of after dad, you know? He might not take anything from our side of the family."

Serah smiles, relieved and somewhat hopeful. "Well, would that be a problem? Is the father an ugly man?"

"No, nothing at all." Lightning´s smile is enigmatic, and her eyes glaze for a split second, and though Serah has never seen such a dreamy expression on her older sibling, she knows the woman has traveled into her memories for a moment. She stands in front of the stubborn soldier, hugging one of her arms, as she looks into the azure orbs, pleadingly, giving her best 'puppy eyes'.

"Please… tell me about him. Tell me about the man who stole your heart, Sis."

"It´s not like he stole my heart, Serah, you´re overreacting." Lightning rolls her eyes, but isn´t able to free herself from the tight hold Serah has on her, as she feels once again a faint warmth finding its way on her cheeks.

"Oh, please! I can tell! We are sisters! Of course I know that little heart of yours!"

"Serah, I don´t think it´s the time…"

"Please, Light! You promised a long time ago!"

Lightning sighs, defeated. She has never been able to resist her sister´s puppy eyes; besides, she did promise. Plus, aside from all that, she considers the possibility that, by talking about the memory of _him_, it could release a little bit of the heavy weight that has fallen upon her shoulders.

"Fine, fine. I´ll tell you all about him."

"Yay!"

"But first, you have to promise me that you won´t tell anyone about this, not even Snow. Wait. No, scratch that. _Especially _not Snow."

A delicate eyebrow twitches, as the youngest pinkette defiantly places her hands over her hips. "Now why would you ask me that? He´s my fiancé, Sis: We don´t keep secrets from each other. I know you can understand that." Serah strains the last phrase. Sometimes it's so hard to be Lightning´s sister and not lose it…

"Well, you see, the problem is, he doesn´t keep secrets from _anybody else_ either." Lightning glares at the younger pinkette, defying her to contradict her words.

Serah is offended now, but as much as she´d love to retaliate, the possibility of loosing this opportunity keeps her mouth tight shut. "Oh Lightning! You´re so mean!"

"Your choice." Lightning looks at the sea, knowing she´s won this time, but even so, tries to make her best poker face. She usually doesn´t like to brag. Besides, the soldier knows her sister all too well: if she feels she´s being over abused, Serah´s retaliation would be a lot rougher.

"Al right, al right." Serah finally gives in, understanding she couldn´t get anywhere further. "I promise you I won´t tell Snow. You can trust me, your secret will follow me to my grave."

Another sigh, and Lightning sits on the edge of the bed, Serah following suit, sitting very close to her, least the stubborn woman would change her mind if she dares to blink.

"You don´t know him, neither of you have met him because… well… because I met him during my kidnapping on the Dissidia Universe."

"Oh… really?!" Serah´s eyes shine at her words. "Around that time?"

"Yes. It was supposed to be that I wouldn´t remember anything that had happened there, but something might´ve gone wrong, because all my memories were preserved."

"So, you _do_ remember _him_! Right?" Serah´s eyebrows wiggle suggestively, making Lightning laugh out loud. Part of it because of the funny face her baby sister is making, but most of all, as an attempt to hide her embarrassment and discomfort.

"Yes Serah, I do remember him. It was another world, an entirely different dimension, and we all were on a suicidal mission… I…" Lightning feels her throat tightening, guilt creeping onto her, as she recalls how her memory of Serah and all their plight had been erased from her mind. The soldier shakes her head. Details weren´t needed at the moment, so she spares the young woman the knowledge. "I was forced to create a team with a few warriors, some of them were fine to travel with, but there were others far more… annoying, and that´s just an understanding."

"I´ve always heard the way you complained about Snow, Sazh and the others, for being civilians and the worst team ever." Serah interrupts her, surprised at the confession. "You mean these guys were even _worse_?"

"Well… no, but you´re not taking into consideration that, in Dissidia, we _all_ were warriors of some kind, and of great skill; each with different levels, granted, but we all knew how to handle ourselves in battle, far more skilled than some of the chosen l´Cie I had to coup with, back when we started our journey. Anyways, though I was stuck up with a few rather unpleasant mates, there were others far easier to get along with, and a few with whom I came to have something close to a friendship. And there was one..."

Serah´s eyes are ablaze with emotion, eager to know more, her countenance that of sincere excitement.

"Yes…?"

Lightning smirks at her hungry expression, as the dramatic pause makes its effect over the youngest sibling. She knows, too, how to torture her baby sister.

"Well, there was this one guy…"

But her tale is interrupted by a sudden, gut-wrenching cry.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!"

Both Farrons turn their heads towards the window. The scream is immediately followed by a low-pitched roar, one similar to an injured beast.

"What is…?" But before Serah can finish her sentence, Lightning is already at the door, Omega Weapon brandished tightly on her right hand. "Wait! Lightning! You can´t go there! You´re pregnant, for Etro´s sake!" Serah runs fast, hot on her sister´s trail.

Both pinkettes step out of the house, but the moment Serah´s feet cross the threshold, Lightning breaks her run, and roughly pushes her sister aside with her shoulder, following the momentum and making both of them crash against the wall. And right on time, because the spot they both had been in, is replaced by a powerful and deadly Behemoth´s paw, destroying the wooden floor.

Lightning is speechless, as both sibling´s eyes trace the lines of a huge King Behemoth towering over them, already on its hind legs, roaring and trashing its mighty, saw-like weapon. But it doesn´t seem like a normal, Gran Pulse´s beast. The animal wears an armor that covers almost all parts of its body, each metal plaque showing a thin strap that glows a faint blue light, the intimidating helmet covering almost every inch of its enormous head but the red eyes and the mighty jaw, that let show fangs already tainted with blood. The King Behemoth doesn´t look like a natural being, it looks exactly like the beasts Lightning had seen in the Sunleth Whaterscape, during her times as l´Cie. Exactly like the deadly beasts the Sanctum had been breeding.

"Oh, dear Etro…" Serah´s light blue orbs open wide at the sight of the huge, deadly beast, while Lightning´s are closed to slits, already evaluating the situation, and as such, she´s able to read the beast´s attack.

"Duck Serah!"

Not needing a second warning, the youngest pinkette follows the eldest´s lead and ducks at the same time she does, both of them avoiding losing their heads by a blow from the powerful weapon, which tears apart in countless small splinters the front wall of the house.

Serah looks up, searching for the monster, and feels herself being pulled roughly by one arm, making her stagger and fall on the other side of her sister´s frame, as Lightning had taken all her weight to take the youngest Farron out of the way, while she redirects another hit from the rounded saw that had been searching for them, Omega Weapon scratching and screaming at the taste of the enemy´s metal, and the soldier feels her muscles and joints stretch and contract painfully at the strike.

Her pregnancy had been smooth so far, her belly not letting show too much the growing life inside of her, her body seemingly toned as always. But now that she has to once again strain her body to its fullest, the soldier can feel the changes that it has sustained, (something that Falcon had already warned her of) as her muscles and ligaments yell in protest at the painful stress they´re being put up with, while Lightning moves, blocks, protects and attacks as fast as she can go now, her primal instinct that of protecting her sister. But, with no little fear, she accepts the fact that her speed might not be nearly as fast as it used to, her strength might not be enough to protect them both.

"Serah! Run!"

Lightning yells without taking her attention off of the monster´s eyes, as it lunges again, its weapon in a straight hit against its small and seemingly weak opponent. Lightning moves to one side and then ducks, as the weapon corrects its aim, searching for her and barely missing, as it tears apart the small tree growing next to the door, a tree Serah had been growing so fond of. The soldier moves again, as she shoots a barrel of bullets against the monster´s helmet. She knows it won´t do any significant damage, but at least it might be painful enough to distract the beast. As the Behemoth roars in rage, Lightning runs to its back, and slashes its left leg, effectively drawing blood and making the humongous monster kneel in front of her. But as it falls, the beast throws a powerful slash with its left paw, angrily forming a claw directed towards the woman, searching for the most painful way to injure her, with such speed and strength, that Lightning has fractions of seconds to react. Moving as fast as she can, she swirls before the razor-sharp claws open her in half, but the tip of one of them finds the skin of her shoulder, producing a deep cut over the tender flesh, opening a wound that separates muscles, leaving white bone exposed. Lightning screams of pain, but refuses to give way and instead, she follows the momentum and turns, shooting another set of bullets that find an opening over the glowing armor, breaking the monster´s arm and flesh, as it howls in such pain that sends it to its knees again.

Sweating and trembling for the intense pain, warm blood dampening her back and arm, the eldest Farron stands close to her enemy, gunblade at the ready, aiming directly to its head to give the final blow. But the King Behemoth is not easily defeated, and the monster, without looking at her, instinctively throws a blind and powerful slash with its weapon, aimed directly at her head. This time, though, the soldier is not taken by surprise, and guesses the movement beforehand. She receives the mighty blow full force with the shaft of her gunblade, her guard raised barely on time, as the blow transmits a strong vibration from her arms to the rest of the body, increasing the pain on her shoulder. But the strength of the strike is far greater than she had imagined an injured Behemoth could make, and the impact sends her flaying backwards, almost making her let go of the Omega Weapon. Lightning does a summersault backwards, correcting her trajectory and falling on her feet, one knee hitting hard the rocky sand, and she feels the faint stinging of the skin being torn apart, as she hears another roar, the King Behemoth again on its four, charging furiously at her.

"Right."

Her eyes become like slits, as she feels warm liquid, most surely blood, coming from her knees and palms, injured by the force of the blow, and that dampens the handle of her weapon. She rises from her position slowly, calculatedly, ignoring the pain on her body, searching for ways to access the beast´s weakest point, as the Behemoth runs in rage towards her, ignoring its own injuries too, its fangs menacingly showing, a threat of torture and death.

She hears gunshots from behind the monster, but they don´t deter it, if only make it angrier, the beast sending another gut-wrenching roar on her direction. Lightning holds still, calculating its movements and planning hers, as the beast approaches fast. The monster roars again as another barrel of bullets, this time coming from their side, ricochet against its helmet, one of them scratching its eye. The monster is furious, and shakes its head in rage, slowing its pace and giving Lightning the opening she´s been searching for. She runs towards it, a trail of her own blood falling behind her, and she strains her legs to go as fast as they would carry her, when suddenly, with eyes wide open, she sees the monster´s body gleaming in a bluish light, an obvious indicator that it´s going to step on its hinds again.

_No!_

She runs faster, and right before it rises, she slashes forward, hard steel severing the flesh of its neck, effectively finding its carotid artery. Lightning breaks her sprint and turns to see the monster trashing and turning in desperation. She stands defiantly at the beast, knowing it´s just a matter of seconds now, before it perishes.

_Mama…_

A soft voice, like a whisper inside her head, reaches her consciousness and breaks her concentration for a split moment. Lightning turns around, looking for the source, and sees only Serah running towards her, a rifle tight on her grasp and a countenance of worry; she turns again and sees Hope running from the other side, both approaching her fast. She gives a step forward, eager to meet them.

_Mama…_

The husky voice, dampened with a desperate tone, reaches her again, though this time is followed by a gut-wrenching fear of unknown origin, one that envelops her soul and makes her heart race and her mouth go dry.

"What the…?"

_Mama… Mama!_

The fear becomes stronger, making her chest ache, and her azure eyes open wide, as suddenly, a powerful, blinding pain strikes her down, coming straight from her back and traveling to her lower abdomen, shaking her with such intensity, that her knees give way. Lightning falls, left hand hard over the sand, coloring it crimson with her blood, the other bloody hand clutching tightly her belly. With her body being held prisoner by such torture, she bits her lip to restrain herself from screaming, tasting warm iron, as tears of anguish and pain threaten to form on her closed eyes.

"Lightning!"

She knows its Serah calling, but the pain doubles her over, blinding her mind and forbidding any coherent command. The monster roars again, one of its powerful, deadly roars, as it finds the soldier helpless over the sand. Bathed in its own blood, staggering, the King Behemoth gives painful steps towards its enemy, towering over the kneeled soldier, completely ignoring the rain of bullets that ricochet over its abused armor. Its red, bloody eyes are fixed over the immobile figure in front of it. The monster knows it will die soon, but instinctively knows it won´t die alone.

In between tremors, Lightning raises her head, and is barely able to see its menacing shadow through glazy eyes, as another wave of pain envelops her lower abdomen, making her clutch her belly further. She can feel the baby moving in desperation, as all her muscles tighten, trying hard to ignore the torture, as she does everything she can to ease her fear… and probably the baby´s too.

_We´ll be ok, little one, please… please… we´ll be ok..._

But the monster, already on its hinds, and though stumbling, menacingly raises its weapon towards her. The towering shadow looms over her, harmless bullets ricocheting against its armor, its mighty weapon cutting the air with the speed of the strike, making it whistle as it falls over her, and the only thing Lightning is able to do is glare at the beast, azure eyes meeting defiantly dark, bloody ones, and, for the first time in too much time, the eldest Farron feels helpless, clutching her rounded belly tightly, her last thought directed towards the life growing inside of her.

_I´m sorry I couldn´t protect you… I´m really sorry…_

The soldier closes her eyes, her last sight that of the bloodied weapon narrowing on her.

_Mama…_

But as she´s ready to accept her fate, the husky voice reaches her mind and ignites a fire inside of her. Defiant azure eyes open in a snap, and her right hand grasps tightly Omega Weapon´s handle, as she moves to the side, a fraction of a second before she´s snapped open, her enemy´s mighty weapon creating a deep wound over the sand, but missing the delicate skin. Not losing any second, Lightning rises her gunblade towards the exposed neck, severing the King Behemoth´s trachea, as a river of dark blood baths her body. Gurgling, the monster stumbles and falls forward, and Lightning rolls over the sand, avoiding being crushed by the being´s heavy weight, her body still a slave of the pain. There is a small cloud of sand raised at the fall of the enormous beast, as it lies prone in the sand, lifeless, and the soldier stays kneeled in front of it, out of breath, azure eyes fixed on her enemy´s body.

"Lightning! Oh dear Goddess! You´re alive…"

Serah finally arrives at the soldier´s side, falling on her knees as she throws her weapon to the sand, desperate to give her sister a tight, reassuring hug, one that makes the pain stronger and that almost leaves the stubborn soldier breathless.

"Serah… you´re hurting me."

But the young woman doesn´t hear her, her heart still racing in fear, as she holds her beloved sibling tighter, her eyes shut and dampened with treacherous tears, her mind flowing with ghastly possibilities.

"Don´t you ever, ever do that to me again, Sis! Don´t you even _think _to scare me like that or I´ll hurt you! Badly!" Serah feels angry against the treacherous tears, as she hides her face over her sister´s uninjured shoulder, her grasp growing tighter. "Oh Claire! I thought I´d lose you…"

Serah´s voice breaks, and the sound reaches Lightning´s core, making the stubborn soldier shiver, as she holds her sister tight, because she felt it too: she had thought she wouldn´t live to see another day. The baby moves in between them, as if protesting for the pressure. The movement eases Lightning´s tension as Serah chuckles, immediately placing her hand over the belly.

"Yeah, that goes for you too!"

Lightning smiles at the playful reprimand, and is about to respond, when a tall figure approaches them. Lightning raises her eyes and sees Noel and Hope running fast towards them, the brunet man reaching the siblings before the silver haired teen does, both their faces a mask of worry, as the young man grasps Lightning´s uninjured arm in order to help her to stand.

"Serah! Light! I´m sorry but we don´t have time for this! We need to hurry and get you somewhere safer."

"Get us? What do you…?"

But her sentence is interrupted abruptly, as her eyes swiftly travel through their surroundings, one hand with a tight hold on her baby sister, the other clutching the still aching belly. As far as her eyes can go, Lightning can see Gorgonopsides and King Behemoths furiously attacking groups of people, spread all over New Bodhum´s beach, each group trying their best to defend themselves from the angry beasts. Some of them less lucky than her.

"Lightning… what is this?" Serah asks, tightly clutching her arm to help her walk.

"Dear Etro… we´re under attack…"

ooOOOOOXIIIooooOOO

A/N:

I don´t own final fantasy nor any of its awesome characters. I do this only for fun.

I really hope you like this chapter. Sorry it was slow at first, but I want to explore Ligthning´s and Serah´s relationship. But I REALLY needed some action and blood, so I hope you enjoy reading as much as I did writing it.

Thank you all for your comments and support! you guys are amazing!


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